Boehringer Ingelheim has halted development of an obesity drug from Gubra that it originally pledged to advance back in 2017, Gubra announced in an Oct. 31 release.
Boehringer initially committed up to 250 million euros ($300 million) to partner with Gubra on obesity treatments. The three other projects in the team-up, including two preclinical assets and a potential first-in-class triple agonist currently in a phase 1 trial, are still ongoing, Gubra said.
Gubra has no further information on why the decision to halt development was made, the company said in the release.
The discontinued compound, BI 1820237, targets neuropeptide Y receptor type 2, a different target than the GLP-1 agonist drugs dominating the obesity market today.
The drug completed a phase 1 trial with 124 patients in August, meant in part to assess whether BI 1820237 could avoid gastrointestinal side effects like nausea and vomiting that are common in GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide and tirzepatide.
Earlier this month, researchers reported that BI 1820237 caused gastrointestinal side effects in 39% of trial participants who received it.
Boehringer is also tackling obesity with Zealand Pharma. The duo’s glucagon/GLP-1 receptor-targeting drug survodutide led to 19% weight loss in a phase 2 trial last year. The drug is now being tested in two phase 3 obesity trials.