What happened
Investors flocked to Pfizer (PFE 0.46%) stock on Monday following some highly encouraging news about one of the company's pipeline drugs. The holy grail of pharmaceutical companies and biotechs is the development of a medication with blockbuster potential, and Pfizer seems to have one on its hands. As a result, the company's shares rocketed more than 5% higher on Monday against an essentially flat S&P 500 index.
So what
A peer-reviewed study of Pfizer's investigational drug danuglipron found that the medication lowered both blood sugar and body weight after 16 weeks of use when compared to a placebo. That study was published in the influential JAMA Network medical journal that morning.
On average, the phase 2 clinical trial's volunteers who were administered either 80- or 120-milligram doses of the drug twice per day lost roughly 10 pounds of weight across the 16 weeks.
That is highly encouraging. Compounding that, that level of weight loss is comparable to pharmaceutical rival Novo Nordisk's (NVO 0.81%) highly successful semaglutide, a commercialized drug known in this country as either Ozempic or Rybelsus for diabetes, and Wegovy for weight loss.
Although Pfizer divulged clinical results for danuglipron at a medical conference last year, these were not compared to semaglutide.
Now what
If danuglipron continues to do well in clinical testing, it certainly stands a fine chance of success in a world fighting the scourge of obesity. One great advantage the drug has is that it is administered orally as opposed to via injection as with Wegovy. On the other hand, its dosage is much higher.
