Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) stock is one of the top trending tickers this morning, with shares up about 28% as of this writing. This surge comes after the company released results from a 48-week study of pemvidutide, the firm’s GLP-1 weight-loss drug.
According to Altimmmune, the drug cut less of patients’ lean mass than competing treatments.
The Data on Altimmune’s Weight-Loss Drug
In the Phase 2 trial involving 391 participants, just 21.9% of the weight patients lost involved their lean mass. Per the company, the rest of the weight loss involved reductions in fat.
Meanwhile, a higher proportion of the weight loss triggered by the other GLP-1 drugs has been lean mass loss. Indeed, according to Altimmune, “lean mass has accounted for as much as 40% of total weight loss” triggered by other GLP-1 drugs.
“Preservation of lean mass, which is primarily muscle tissue, is believed to be important in maintaining healthy weight loss and physical function,” said Altimmune CEO Vipin Garg.
Importantly, only 50 of the participants in the trial received “full MRI-based body composition analysis.” Consequently, Altimmune’s statements about pemvidutide’s greater preservation of lean mass are based on a relatively low sample size.
Patients who took 1.2 milligram (mg) doses of the drug lost an average of 10.3% of their total weight while those taking 1.8 mg doses fell by a mean total of 11.2%. Most impressively, though, participants who received 2.4 mg doses saw mean weight loss of 15.6%. Finally, those who received placebo doses lost only 2.2% of their weight.
A Large Amount of Competition
Of course, Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) and Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) are already selling large amounts of their GLP-1 drugs. But many other firms are also working on similar treatments. In fact, according to CNBC, companies were expected to unveil data on a total of 27 such treatments at the recent American Diabetes Association conference.
On the date of publication, Larry Ramer did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
