Structure Therapeutics’ oral obesity drug shows competitive early data vs Novo and Lilly; Ascletis reports early obesity results
Structure Therapeutics reported early clinical data for its oral GLP‑1–based obesity candidate (commonly referred to as GSBR‑1290), an experimental once‑daily pill targeting the same pathway as injectable drugs from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.
In mid‑stage testing, Structure’s pill produced meaningful weight loss versus placebo over several weeks, but the absolute weight‑reduction percentage is still below what is seen with leading injectable GLP‑1 drugs like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound over comparable or longer time frames.
Tolerability of Structure’s drug appears generally acceptable and in line with the GLP‑1 class, with gastrointestinal side effects such as nausea and vomiting being the most common but mostly mild to moderate in severity.
Investors and analysts view the data as encouraging for an oral option but note that to compete head‑to‑head with Novo and Lilly, a best‑in‑class pill would likely need stronger weight‑loss efficacy and/or a clearly better convenience or safety profile.
The results highlight a key trade‑off in the obesity market:
current injectables from Novo and Lilly still set the efficacy benchmark, while new entrants like Structure are initially competing on oral delivery and patient convenience rather than superior weight loss.
Ascletis Pharma separately announced early‑stage clinical results for its own obesity‑related candidates (including thyroid hormone receptor‑β agonists and/or other metabolic modulators, such as ASC41/ASC42 in non‑alcoholic and metabolic indications), suggesting potential applicability to obesity and related metabolic diseases.
Ascletis’ early trials showed signals of weight reduction and metabolic improvement, but the data sets are small and at a much earlier development stage than the advanced GLP‑1 programs from Novo, Lilly, or even Structure Therapeutics.
Both Structure and Ascletis remain several years behind Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly in development timelines, regulatory positioning, and commercial scale, but their results underscore the intense global race to develop oral or next‑generation obesity treatments.
Analysts emphasize that longer, larger phase 2 and phase 3 trials will be required to determine whether Structure’s pill can approach injectable‑level efficacy and whether Ascletis’ programs can translate early metabolic signals into clinically meaningful, sustainable weight loss.
The emerging data reinforce expectations that the obesity market will likely expand to include multiple drug classes and formats (injectables and pills), with Novo and Lilly maintaining near‑term dominance but facing a growing field of challengers focusing on oral convenience, combo therapies, and differentiated safety profiles.