BioPharm Brief: RNAi, Obesity, and Diabetes Advances

Welcome to The BioPharm Brief, your daily snapshot of developments shaping the biopharmaceutical industry.

Three notable developments are highlighting continued innovation across RNA interference, obesity, and metabolic disease therapies.

First, City Therapeutics announced a $99.5 million Series B financing to advance its next-generation RNAi platform and pipeline. The funding will support development of CITY-FXI, which recently entered a Phase 1 clinical trial for thromboembolic diseases, as well as CITY-RBP4, an investigational RNAi therapy for Stargardt disease that is expected to enter the clinic later this year. Company leaders said the financing will help accelerate multiple programs and further validate the potential of next-generation RNAi technologies.

In obesity and liver disease news, Boehringer Ingelheim and Zealand Pharma reported positive Phase 3 data for survodutide, a dual glucagon and GLP-1 receptor agonist. Across two studies, the investigational therapy significantly reduced visceral adipose tissue and liver fat content in adults with obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, or MASLD. Researchers noted that reductions in liver fat and visceral fat are considered important markers of cardiometabolic health and may support broader disease management beyond weight loss alone.

Finally, Eli Lilly reported detailed Phase 3 results for its oral GLP-1 receptor agonist Foundayo, also known as orforglipron. In the ACHIEVE-3 study, Foundayo outperformed oral semaglutide on measures of both A1C reduction and weight loss, marking the first head-to-head Phase 3 comparison of two oral GLP-1 therapies in type 2 diabetes. Lilly also reported positive findings from two additional Phase 3 trials and plans to submit Foundayo to the FDA for type 2 diabetes by the end of the second quarter.

That's all for today's BioPharm Brief. For further analysis and expert insights, please visit BioPharmInternational.com.

Key Insights

• City Therapeutics secured $99.5 million in Series B financing to advance its RNAi pipeline, including the Phase 1 CITY-FXI program and a Stargardt disease candidate expected to enter the clinic later this year.
• Survodutide delivered significant reductions in visceral adipose tissue and liver fat in Phase 3 studies, reinforcing the potential of incretin-based therapies to address obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.
• Lilly's oral GLP-1 Foundayo outperformed oral semaglutide in a landmark Phase 3 head-to-head trial, achieving greater reductions in both A1C and body weight and strengthening the case for oral GLP-1 therapies in type 2 diabetes treatment.