drug:danuglipron

Pfizer's GLP1: Danuglipron

Read more about Dangulipron, Pfizer's GLP1 receptor agonist. Will it be better than Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound and others?

GLP1.Guide Staff

Jul 23, 2024 — 4 min read

Photo by danilo.alvesd on Unsplash

The number of companies entering the GLP1 Receptor Agonist race is on the rise, and the pace isn't slowing.

Pfizer, the massive American pharmaceutical company is making a GLP1 Receptor Agonist drug called Danuglipron.

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Don't know what a GLP1 Receptor Agonist is, or how drugs like Ozempic, Mounjaro, Wegovy, or Zepbound work?

Check out our quick explainer

What kind of GLP1 is Danuglipron?

Danuglipron is intended to be an orally taken GLP1 Receptor Agonist. Similar to Novo Nordisk's Rybelsus (Semaglutide) the idea is that you ingest the drug (likely in pill form) once a day.

In the controlled randomized trial that was performed on Danuglipron, participants took a 120mg dose twice a day.

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Orally taken GLP1s (ex. Rybelsus) are often in very high dosages because much of the active ingredients and molecules are lost during digestion and absorption.

The dosage is much higher in a pill than a pen, but that does not mean that your pen is the wrong dosage! It's just much more direct.

How effective is Danuglipron?

Since Danuglipron is somewhat newer, there is less published research and studies to fall back on. We'll start with the research that isn't quite good enought

For those who are curious just how a drug like Danuglipron is developed, there's a paper on the discovery story of Danuglipron itself:

While this article gets into the very specifics of how the molecule was discovered, one thing stands out in the paper:

A huge benefit this reveals compared to an oral Semaglutide (Rybelsus) is that the chemical compound that makes up Danuglipron is much easier for the body to absorb, because the molecules are smaller:

In contrast, the GLP-1R agonists disclosed herein are traditional small molecules that are orally bioavailable in standard formulations (e.g., methylcellulose) and have the potential to be combined with other oral small-molecule therapeutics.

This means that Danuglipron could be a more effective Semaglutide, taken orally.

What we do have is one randomized trial that was performed:

Here are the highlights:

411 people participated in the study ( average age was 58 with a standard deviation of 9.3, 51% male)
316 completed the study, which lasted 16 weeks (roughly 4 months)
HBA1c was reduced
Body weight was reduced (-2.04kg over placebo)
The most reported negative side effects were nausea, diarrhea and vomiting

As you might imagine, Pfizer was quite pleased with this results and published a press release. The headline bullet point says it all:

Danuglipron demonstrated mean placebo-adjusted weight reductions ranging from -8% to -13% at 32 weeks and -5% to -9.5% at 26 weeks

Is Danuglipron more effective than Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and others?

It's still too early to say.

The amount of studies and trials done on Semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus) and Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) is much higher than Danuglipron – there simply isn't enough research data to say.

All we have to go on is one study, and Pfizer's plans to productionize (clearly they believe in the drug very much).

As of 2024 there are large studies underway, as reported by ABC:

The noted study has 1400 participants (though not all may complete the study)

What do we know about Pfizer?

Pfizer, is one of the most important pharmaceutical companies in the world – trusted during the COVID19 pandemic to create mRNA vaccines, and a long time manufacturer of various medications in the USA: