Adam Feuerstein 认同 Peter Kolchinsky 的观点:市场应朝推出相对低价、低剂量的非处方 GLP-1 方向发展,用于减重或体重增加预防。
Conceptually, I agree with @PeterKolchinsky here. Call it weight gain prevention, micro-dieting or whatever, but making a relatively inexpensive, low-dose version of GLP-1s available over the counter is where the market should be heading.
In many ways, it’s moving in that direction already. We all know that telehealth operators, with ultra-lax prescribing standards, allow anyone to get a weight loss drug as long as they can afford it. The idea that these are “prescription” medications is a joke.
So, why not go all the way?Most people would be happy with a bit of weight loss (or weight gain prevention)that they can buy at the local drugstore.
I think the biggest market pharma will ever tackle will actually be weight gain PREVENTION. And the dynamics of this market are going to be very different from the medicalized weight loss market and require better, more convenient products. The race for that market has only just begun. We helped to pivot one of our companies, Terrestrial, to work in prevention (as well as weight loss), and their clinical progress now makes me comfortable sharing our thesis for the weight gain prevention space. They have a needle-free, room-temp stable microneedle patch where the microneedles are made of semaglutide. Apply it for a few min, the base of the needles dissolves leaving drug under the skin, and you can then throw away the patch. That’s the weekly dose. No sharps containers. Once drug is under skin, it behaves very similarly to regularly injected semaglutide. 505b2 path to market is derisked by all existing data on sema. But Terrestrial isn’t stopping at just getting approved for all same indications as sema. It’s also gunning to get it OTC and get weight gain prevention on the label, legitimizing what today is a common off-label use (so common that South Park parodied it). From a societal value, there may not be any single medical breakthrough that rivals what a needle-free, OTC QW GLP-1 can offer to humanity. Excess weight leads to so much disability, disease, cost, lost productivity, and early mortality. Doesn’t make sense for people to have to gain weight to then get help losing it. Makes more sense for them to get help quieting the hunger noise (drive to eat) so they can avoid gaining weight in the first place. Have doubts? No problem. Read the article and then decide. The key insight here is that an OTC needle-free GLP-1 is not simply some late comer to a mature category but actually the beginning of an entirely new market that is so large that it would be worth any consumer-focused company to pay attention and for any standard pharma to consider what it would take to pivot into this space. And if you have never experienced how a GLP-1 can quiet hunger noise, you’ll have a harder time relating. Young people with fast metabolisms will likely miss this. But someday they will say “holy crap, I get it!”. 60% of Americans are overweight or obese… the battle against weight gain is one most people are destined to lose without help. 3B people around the world are overweight/obese. This is a giant global market at even very low unit prices (eg $25/month). Enjoy the read. Godspeed Terrestial! The RA Capital team is really proud to support you.在 X 查看被引用的帖子
来源:Adam Feuerstein ✡️ · x.com