AstraZeneca Enters Obesity Market

AstraZeneca enters the hottest part of the pharmaceutical market through an agreement to market obesity and diabetes drugs.

Johanna Englundh 9 November, 2023 | 10:18AM
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca AZN, the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant, has entered an exclusive agreement with Eccogene, licensing the latter's treatments for conditions such as type-2 diabetes and obesity. Astra's shares rose 3% on Thursday.

Eccogene’s product ECC5004 is a "peptide 1 receptor" for the treatment of obesity and diabetes and, unlike current anti-obesity preparations, it is taken orally instead of injected. 

In AstraZeneca’s latest earnings report, Pascal Soriot, CEO, says: “I am excited about the acceleration of our cardiometabolic and obesity pipeline with today’s licensing agreement for ECC5004, a potential best-in-class, oral GLP-1RA11. This molecule could offer an important advance, as both a monotherapy and in combinations, for the estimated one billion people living with cardiometabolic diseases such as type-2 diabetes and obesity.”

Eccogene will receive an initial upfront payment of US$185 million and up to an additional US$1.83 billion in future clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestones and tiered royalties. AstraZeneca is granted exclusive global rights for the development and commercialisation of ECC5004 for any indication in all territories except China, where Eccogene has the right to co-develop and co-commercialise alongside AstraZeneca.  

Competitors Novo Nordisk NVO and Eli Lilly LLY have seen their share prices surge on the back of the rising demand for their obesity drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.  

Demand for GLP-1 therapies for diabetes has already created an estimated $20 billion global market, after years of double-digit demand growth as doctors and patients become more comfortable with the long-term safety of these drugs and as benefits beyond blood sugar control become more apparent with newer therapies. This is according to a sector report from Morningstar’s analysts earlier this year.  

AstraZeneca revealed this new agreement in its latest earnings report, in which the company raised its full-year guidance for core earnings per share (EPS) and total revenue excluding Covid-19 medicines, helped by strong demand for its cancer drugs. This was despite a lower third-quarter profit that missed forecasts after booking a tax charge compared with a credit for the comparable period. 

The pharmaceutical giant now expects core earnings per share to increase by a low double-digit percentage compared with previous guidance of a high single-digit to low double-digit percentage increase. 

Get the Latest Stock Insights in Your Inbox

Subscribe Here

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

Securities Mentioned in Article

Security NamePriceChange (%)Morningstar Rating
AstraZeneca PLC ADR77.35 USD0.62Rating
Eli Lilly and Co932.06 USD2.35Rating
Novo Resources Corp0.09 CAD-5.26

About Author

Johanna Englundh  is an editor for Morningstar in Sweden.

© Copyright 2024 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.

Terms of Use        Privacy Policy       Disclosures        Accessibility