Pfizer moves forward with once-daily version of weight loss pill after setbacks

Pfizer on Thursday said it will move forward with a once-daily version of its weight loss pill, danuglipron, after it saw "encouraging" data in an ongoing early-stage study.

The company evaluated several once-daily formulations of the drug and identified one with "the most favorable profile" in terms of safety and how the body reacts to the drug.

Pfizer said it plans to conduct more early-stage trials in the second half of the year to identify the ideal dose of the drug, with results expected in the first quarter of next year, a spokesperson told CNBC. The company said those trials will "inform the registration enabling studies," which are used in applications for regulatory approval.

Results are expected in the first quarter of next year, a spokesperson told CNBC.

Danuglipron "has demonstrated good efficacy in a twice-daily formulation, and we believe a once-daily formulation has the potential to have a competitive profile in the oral GLP-1 space," outgoing Pfizer Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Mikael Dolsten said in a release. Notably, the company did not observe any liver safety issues in patients who received once-daily formulations of the drug.

Pfizer is one of several drugmakers racing to win a slice of the market for a highly popular class of weight loss and diabetes drugs called GLP-1 agonists. Some analysts expect the industry to be worth roughly $100 billion by the end of the decade. 

But Pfizer has so far struggled to break into the market.

The pharmaceutical giant in December discontinued a twice-daily version of danuglipron after patients had trouble tolerating the drug in a mid-stage study. At the time, Pfizer said early study data on the once-daily version would "inform a path forward." 

But investors have been