Amgen’s AMG-133* has the potential to address a key unmet need for drugs that reduce patient burden among patients with obesity, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Sara Reci, Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Currently, patients receiving pharmacotherapy for obesity, such as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R), are required to self administer Wegovy (semaglutide) or Saxenda (liraglutide) via subcutaneous injection on a weekly or daily basis. Conversely, AMG-133 targets glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor (GIPR) in a novel bispecific mechanism fashion. While AMG-133 shares the same targets as Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide, which is approved for type 2 diabetes and currently under fast track designation for obesity, AMG-133 antagonizes GIPR, offering a unique feature within the obesity market.”

AMG-133 is also a longer-acting therapy, and this significantly reduces the number of treatment days in comparison to the currently marketed and late-stage pipeline therapies.

Reci continues: “While tirzepatide requires weekly administration, AMG-133’s administration once every four weeks (Q4W) has positive implications on patient compliance. Currently, patients that are prescribed the standard of care, Wegovy, are expected to self-administer treatment on a weekly basis. Many patients receiving treatment for obesity have other comorbidities that they must also tend to, so this reduction in treatment days is all the more essential to this subset of patients in ameliorating compliance to treatment.”

Key opinion leaders (KOLs) interviewed by GlobalData have voiced that, while many therapies in the pipeline are essentially ‘me-too’ drugs comprising GLP-1 agonists and an additional mode of action to produce a dual or triple incretin-type mode of action, they still show potential in being effective.

Reci concludes: “Despite AMG-133 being a latecomer into the incretin mimetic space, its unique features do set it apart from currently marketed therapies. While it is still too early to comment on the efficacy of AMG-133, its practicality shows potential to be favored among many patients and clinicians alike, should it reach the obesity market. Provided its Phase II trial, which is set to start early next year, and subsequent trials yield good results upon completion, this new therapy may be set on the trajectory to compete directly with the standard-of-care therapies across the obesity space.”

* AMG-133 is a first-in-class therapy, the Phase I study data for which was presented at the 20^th World Congress of Insulin Resistance, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease (WCIRDC) Hybrid Conference that took place on December 1-3