Roche narrows pipeline to 11 disease areas amidst weight loss push – WSJ

Roche (OTCQX:RHHBY) is taking steps to narrow its pipeline to focus on 11 disease areas as it also attempts to build a weight-loss franchise.

Roche pharma division head Teresa Graham told The Wall Street Journal that the Swiss drugmaker recently slashed 25% of its pipeline following a portfolio review.

The move comes as the pharma has been dealt with setbacks in portfolio assets in recent years, particularly in Alzheimer’s disease and lung cancer.

Roche’s push into obesity drugs is not surprising given the large total addressable market for them and the blockbuster revenues that Novo Nordisk (NVO) and Eli Lilly (LLY) have reaped with their GLP-1 medications, Wegovy and Zepbound.

That market could reach upwards of $100B annually, Cantor Fitzgerald Biopharma Analyst Louise Chen said at the Seeking Alpha Investing Summit in June.

Roche’s GLP-1 pipeline includes CT-388, CT-996 and CT-868. Questions surrounding CT-996, an oral candidate, arose earlier in September when positive data released in July was reportedly based on just six participants.

Roche (OTCQX:RHHBF) gained the candidates through its $3.1B acquisition of Carmot Therapeutics.

“We don’t want the next ‘me too,'” Graham told the Journal. “What we really want to aim for are drugs that are going to be best in disease that are fundamentally going to change how care is delivered and change the standard of care,” Graham said.

In its phase 3 pipeline, Roche (OTCPK:RHHVF) has several promising assets, particular for cancer. Among them are inavolisib and giredestrant for breast cancer, and tiragolumab for hepatocellular carcinoma.