Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) announced on Thursday that it will discontinue its experimental weight-loss pill to focus on its injectable drug, MariTide, and other obesity-related developments. Jay Bradner, Amgen’s Chief Scientific Officer, explained during an earnings call that the company has decided to cease further development of the oral drug based on its performance and instead channel resources into MariTide and other preclinical projects.
Following this announcement, Amgen’s shares jumped over 12% intra-day today. The injectable treatment, MariTide, is currently in a mid-stage trial for obese or overweight adults who do not have diabetes. Amgen plans to release initial data from this trial later this year, and Bradner expressed satisfaction with the preliminary results.
In addition, Amgen is collaborating with regulatory agencies to plan a late-stage trial for MariTide and has also announced a second-stage trial aimed at evaluating the drug’s effectiveness in treating diabetes.