Wegovy rival to be part of a suite of weight loss drugs, Roche CEO says following positive trial results

Roche said Thursday that its Wegovy rival weight loss drugs will be part of a suite of medicines aimed at combatting the effects of obesity.

CEO Thomas Schinecker welcomed positive early stage trial results from the firm's two weight loss drug candidates as showing "best in disease potential." He added that they will form part of a wider portfolio aimed at differentiating the Swiss pharmaceutical giant from other competitors in the growing obesity medication market.

"We have a number of things in our pipeline that really can differentiate us from other players," Schinecker told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe."

"We do believe we have two next generation GLP-1/GIPs that have a best in disease potential," he said of the obesity drugs.

GLP-1s, or glucagon-like peptide 1 agonists, are a group of drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity. They form the basis of weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Zepbound. GIP, or gastric inhibitory polypeptide, is a hormone which stimulates insulin secretion.

"We also have a number of different medicines in our own portfolio that we can combine with [obesity drugs]," he added, highlighting GYM329 as an example of a drug which counters muscle loss, a key side effect of weight loss.

He noted that the antibody medicine, which is currently in development, could be used to counter the "yo-yo effect" of weight loss, both for obesity drug users and regular dieters.

Roche is seen as somewhat of a latecomer to the weight loss market amid the runaway success of rivals Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Successive trial results have pointed to the rival firms' drugs' efficacy in combatting not only obesity but also associated health risks, such as cardiovascular diseases.

However, early-stage