Blackstone buys into Pfizer's GLP-1 drug development
Blackstone's global life science head, Dr Nicholas Galakatos.
Private equity firm Blackstone Life Sciences has agreed to provide up to $1.5 billion in funding to Pfizer for the development of its once-monthly GLP-1 agonist candidate berobenatide.
The extra cash will support a very ambitious development plan for berobenatide, which hopes to offer less frequent injections than the current generation of injectable, once-weekly GLP-1-targeting drugs for weight loss, type 2 diabetes, and related indications, sold by Eli Lilly and Novo.
Pfizer has 10 phase 3 trials of berobenatide either ongoing or in the planning stages, focusing on chronic weight management and obesity-related comorbidities including knee osteoarthritis and obstructive sleep apnoea.
The deal is another example of an increasingly popular risk-sharing model, in which an investment group funds a clinical development programme in the hope of a bigger payoff down the line in the form of development and commercial milestone payments and sometimes royalties, with rights to the asset staying with the pharma partner.
Blackstone's approach is generally to act as a partner on late-stage assets. The private equity group has previously signed agreements of this type with Johnson & Johnson for acute myeloid leukaemia therapy bleximenib, MSD for cancer antibody-drug conjugate sacituzumab tirumotecan (sac-TMT), Sanofi/Teva for inflammatory bowel disease candidate duvakitug, and Moderna for a flu vaccine programme, alongside other such deals.
"This collaboration is a good example of our leadership in providing capital solutions at scale to advance important medicines and technologies to patients," said Blackstone's global life science head, Dr Nicholas Galakatos.
Pfizer acquired berobenatide (formerly PF-08653944/MET-097i) as part of its $10 billion takeover of Metsera last year, prompted by the failure of in-house GLP-1 candidates.
At this year's American Diabetes Association (ADA) annual congress, the pharma group presented data from the phase 2b VESPER-1 study that revealed a weight loss of 15.9% at 60 weeks with a weekly injection, and up to 12.4% with a monthly dose at week 28 in the VESPER-3 trial.
In addition, data from the Phase 2b VESPER-2 study, which evaluated weekly dosing in people with obesity or overweight and type 2 diabetes, showed a 2.2% reduction in A1C – a marker for blood glucose control – after 28 weeks.
According to Pfizer's chief financial officer, Cecile Guegan, the investment will help the company to "advance our comprehensive obesity program and maintain the financial capacity and flexibility to invest in our broader pipeline across all therapeutic areas."
