Amgen CEO Bob Bradway told CNBC’s Jim Cramer he thinks his company’s obesity drug can help patients manage weight loss long term, which he indicated is a challenge.
“We think we can address one of the reasons that the field is struggling a little bit, which is the patient persistence issue,” Bradway said.
Amgen revealed Monday that a trial of its experimental GLP-1 drug, MariTide, showed that patients were able to maintain weight loss for two years when given a monthly injection. Right now, most widely-used weight loss injections are taken weekly.
Bradway told Cramer that the pharmaceutical giant expects the drug can be used monthly or even less frequently, saying he’s encouraged about data that suggests it can be taken quarterly. Bradway also said Amgen is studying the efficacy of a range of different doses, adding that “we want to understand what will it take for patients to stay on this therapy, because persistence is the name of the game.”
Bradway also touched on Amgen’s acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics, saying the deal is working well in part because it plays to his company’s strengths — biologics and autoimmunity.
“The medicines we acquired address autoimmune conditions, and they’re largely biologics and are at an early stage of their life cycle,” Bradway said. “So we’re continuing to explore ways and new diseases that might benefit from these treatments. And so far so good.”
