Related feature: STAT’s Obesity Drug Tracker, updated and with a new feature that allows the entire dataset to be downloaded.
Nearly two decades ago, a small company called Amylin Pharmaceuticals saw that its first commercial product, a diabetes treatment targeting receptors of the amylin hormone, led to weight loss in early clinical trials.
To achieve the weight loss, though, the drug had to be injected three times every day, making it “essentially a non-starter from a commercial point of view,” said David Kendall, an executive director at Amylin at the time. The company ultimately didn’t pursue an indication in weight loss.
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