Altimmune Obesity Drug Sheds Fat With Less Muscle Loss in Trial

  • Shares fall as company discontinues hepatitis drug program
  • Weight-loss results similar to effects of diet and exercise
Pharma’s Weight-Loss Bonanza
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Altimmune Inc.’s experimental weight-loss drug minimized muscle decline in a mid-stage trial, a sign that it can address a problem obesity drugmakers have been racing to solve. The shares fell as the company ended a separate drug development program in hepatitis.

More than 74% of patients’ weight loss came from fat tissue in the obesity drug trial, with only 25.5% coming from lean mass, Altimmune said in a statementBloomberg Terminal, results similar to those often seen with diet and exercise programs.