NEW YORK — Nearly two decades ago, European regulators pulled an obesity drug called rimonabant off the market due to concerns it was tied to suicidal ideation. Now, a small handful of companies are developing drugs that use a similar approach to the discarded treatment, which involves inhibiting type 1 cannabinoid receptors, or CB1 receptors.
Among them are Novo Nordisk, the pharma giant behind Ozempic and Wegovy, and a small biotech called Corbus Pharmaceuticals, which is trying to ride Novo’s coattails in hopes of taking a slice of what’s expected to become a $150 billion obesity market.
If Novo’s drug succeeds in a Phase 2 study that’s set to read out this quarter, “it would certainly mean that we’ve chosen an asset that is sensible,” Yuval Cohen, Corbus’ CEO, said in an interview here at the Cantor Fitzgerald Global Healthcare Conference.
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