Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals said Tuesday that its gene-silencing candidates helped people with obesity lose fat, very early results that could intensify the competition among biotechs to develop longer-lasting weight loss drugs.
In an ongoing Phase 1/2 study, a cohort of patients took two doses of a candidate called ARO-INHBE, spaced one month apart, in combination with Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. They lost 9.4% of their weight after 16 weeks, while those on Zepbound alone lost 4.8%. These data were from patients with obesity and diabetes, who typically don’t lose as much weight on treatments as those who don’t have diabetes.
Participants on the combination also lost 23% of their visceral fat, the most harmful type of fat that’s stored around the organs, as well as 15% of their total fat and 77% of their liver fat. Excess liver fat can lead to inflammation and scarring in the organ. Meanwhile, those taking Zepbound alone lost 7%, 5%, and 20%, respectively.
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