Replies to post #251206 on Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Re: Oral peptide drugs for obesity

Thanks for your reply. Even after giving every hypothetical in your discussion the benefit of the doubt, one has to wonder why an oral peptide drug for obesity would be a better option than a best-in-class oral small-molecule drug.

I suppose that, if all attempts at oral small-molecule drugs for obesity failed to impress, there could be room for an oral peptide. However, I consider this scenario unlikely.

[DewDiligence]

…if [VK2735] can be proven to work as an oral, an all oral combination with VK2809 for NASH is also appealing as we have discussed before.

My retort to that is that VK2809—or a similar agent—might combine even better with an oral small-molecule obesity drug rather than an oral peptide.

In addition to the points raised in #msg-174034595, there’s the issue of co-formulation into an FDC tablet. It ought to be easier to make an FDC from an oral small-molecule drug and a second oral agent than it is to make an FDC from an oral peptide and a second oral.

Of course an all-oral combination need not be an FDC; however, co-formulation has proven to be a major commercial benefit in many indications.