Obesity Week Insights: Innovation Across the Evolving Obesity Drug Pipeline

Claudia is Board Certified in nutrition and metabolism and offers 20+ years of pharmaceutical and CRO experience in Phase II-IV clinical research. Claudia joined Fortrea (previously Labcorp Drug Development) in 2014 and started building the Liver Therapeutic Area. She is currently heading the Liver medical team, responsible for the medical oversight and for providing strategic medical consultation. She is also chairing the Innovative Study Design working group. Claudia has comprehensive experience in leading drug development programs with her main focus in metabolics and liver indications.

Claudia is a member of the Liver and PSC Forum, AASLD steatohepatitis working group and EASL NAFLD group. She has authored multiple manuscripts, including five recent review papers about clinical development in Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) and adaptive design studies.

Why the obesity drug pipeline is expanding so fast?

The therapeutic landscape for obesity has expanded rapidly over the past decade, driven by the success of incretin based therapies and a renewed confidence in pharmacological approaches to chronic weight management. Approved glucagon like peptide 1 (GLP 1) receptor agonists and dual incretin agonists have established a new efficacy benchmark, with average weight loss well beyond historical expectations. As a result, the current pipeline increasingly reflects both an escalation in therapeutic ambition and a diversification of biological targets.

Late stage clinical development is dominated by next generation incretin agents, including dual and triple agonists targeting GLP 1, glucose dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon receptors, aiming to maximize appetite suppression and metabolic effects. However, given the substantial weight loss already achieved with these agents, further differentiation based solely on magnitude of weight reduction may be difficult to achieve. Consequently, early and mid stage pipelines show growing interest in complementary mechanisms of action, such as agents that increase energy expenditure, modulate adipose tissue biology, influence nutrient absorption, or alter central reward pathways.

In parallel, increasing attention is paid to body composition outcomes. While regulatory approval continues to rely on total body weight as a surrogate endpoint, pipeline assets are beginning to emphasize selective fat mass reduction and preservation of lean mass as potential differentiators. This shift reflects a broader recognition that the quality of weight loss may have important implications for metabolic health, physical function and long term outcomes.

Additionally, the pipeline is evolving to address key limitations of current therapies, including tolerability, route of administration and long term adherence. Oral formulations improved gastrointestinal tolerability and flexible dosing strategies that are emerging as central development priorities. Collectively, these advances are expected to enable a growing number of combination and “switch” studies, as obesity treatment increasingly shifts toward a chronic, personalized and mechanism based therapeutic paradigm.

Finally, the expanding number of compounds in development may help to improve access to care.

World Obesity Day 2026 features the theme "8 Billion Reasons to Act on Obesity". This campaign highlights that poverty, stigma, unequal access to education and healthcare, limited availability of healthy food and environments that do not support healthy living all shape risk and outcomes across the life course. Urgent, collective action are needed. New available compounds will help to provide better care. However, improve health environments and prevention of childhood obesity are critical to change the trajectory.

Discover how Fortrea partners with biopharma to design, execute, and optimize end to end obesity clinical development programs. Explore our expertise in obesity.

References

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