Roche shares slip on obesity drug trial side effects

Investing.com -- Shares of Roche (SIX:RO) fell on Thursday following reports from an early-stage trial of an obesity medication, which showed a high rate of temporary side effects. 

At 4:44 am (0844 GMT), Roche was trading 4% lower at CHF 277.60.

Roche said that all 25 participants in the trial, including those who received a placebo, experienced mild to moderate adverse events, mostly of a gastrointestinal nature at a European Association for the Study of Diabetes conference in Madrid. 

This is in line with side effects seen with similar weight-loss medications.

“Investor excitement for Roche's obesity franchise may now take a pause, in our view, given both acquired assets showed higher- than-anticipated GI side effects, albeit both underpinned by aggressive titration schedules,” said analysts at Jefferies in a note. 

Roche reported that CT-996, a once-daily pill, achieved a 6.1% average weight loss compared to placebo over four weeks in obese patients without diabetes. 

However, this result was based on a small sample of just six patients, highlighting the preliminary nature of the data.

The company explained that the high incidence of side effects might be due to the accelerated dose increase used in the Phase I trial, and they plan to conduct further studies with longer durations and slower dose escalations to better assess the drug’s safety and efficacy.