AbbVie is entering the obesity treatment market with a $2.3bn licensing agreement to acquire global rights to GUB014295, a long-acting amylin analogue developed by Danish biotech Gubra.
Announced on 3 March, the deal marks AbbVie’s first move into the increasingly competitive sector. Under the agreement, AbbVie will pay Gubra $350m upfront, with additional milestone payments of up to $1.875bn. Gubra is also eligible for tiered royalties on future sales. Following the announcement, Gubra’s stock rose 24% at market open on 3 March.
GUB014295 is an amylin receptor agonist that also targets calcitonin receptors. Amylin analogues have been investigated for their role in appetite suppression and delayed gastric emptying, both of which contribute to weight loss.
In a Phase I study (NCT06144684) conducted by Gubra, healthy and overweight male participants who received 3.5mg to 6mg of GUB014295 experienced an average weight loss of approximately 3% over six weeks, compared to a 1% weight gain in the placebo group. The asset is currently in the multiple-ascending dose (MAD) portion of the Phase I trial.
The obesity treatment market has become a focal point for major pharmaceutical companies, with amylin analogues emerging as a potential alternative or complement to glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) such as semaglutide, marketed in obesity as Wegovy.
However, the path for amylin-based therapies has been mixed. Novo Nordisk’s amylin/GLP-1 combination therapy, CagriSema (semaglutide/cagrilintide), recently met its primary endpoint in the Phase III REDEFINE 1 trial (NCT05669755) but failed to achieve the company’s target of 25% weight loss, leading to a muted investor response.
Unlike GLP-1RAs, which stimulate insulin secretion and reduce glucagon levels, amylin analogues work by suppressing glucagon secretion, increasing satiety, and delaying gastric emptying. Denmark-based Zealand Pharma is developing its own amylin analogue, petrelintide, as a potential best-in-class therapy for obesity and diabetes.
Gubra has been actively involved in obesity research, previously collaborating with Boehringer Ingelheim on multiple programmes. In 2021, the two companies signed a deal to co-develop four obesity candidates, but Boehringer later discontinued the development of BI 1820237, a long-acting NPY2 agonist, without providing details. One of their remaining assets, BI 3034701, a long-acting triple agonist peptide, entered a Phase I trial in July 2024. Separately, Gubra also signed a discovery deal with Amylyx for a long-acting GLP-1RA.
AbbVie has been one of the last major pharmaceutical companies to enter the obesity treatment market, which has become a key area of interest for drugmakers following the commercial success of GLP-1RAs such as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound (tirzepatide). According to a recently published report, GlobalData estimates that the obesity market will exceed $173.5bn by 2031 in the seven major markets (France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the UK and the US).
GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology.
