(Reuters) – Pfizer Inc said on Monday it was halting development of an investigational obesity and diabetes drug, lotiglipron, due to elevated liver enzymes in patients participating in clinical studies.
The company said it would instead focus on its other obesity drug, danuglipron, whose mid-stage trial is fully enrolled.
However, none of these participants reported liver-related symptoms or side effects, there was no evidence of liver failure, and no treatment was required.
Pfizer, like other drugmakers, has been developing treatments to target weight loss in diabetic and obese patients, as it races to target a market estimated at $100 billion by the end of the decade.
The company released data on danuglipron last month, which showed similar weight loss results to Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic in a mid-stage study testing it in patients with type 2 diabetes.
(Reporting by Manas Mishra and Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)