Roche entered the obesity race late and is moving fast. The 2024 Carmot Therapeutics acquisition brought in CT-388 (now enicepatide) — a dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist that posted 22.5% placebo-adjusted weight loss in Phase 2. The 2025 Zealand Pharma partnership added petrelintide, the long-acting amylin analog that delivered double-digit weight loss with placebo-like tolerability in ZUPREME-1.
The Q1 2026 print clarified the pipeline cadence: ENITH 1 and ENITH 2, the two Phase 3 enicepatide obesity trials, were both initiated in Q1; the petrelintide+enicepatide fixed-dose combination Phase 2 starts mid-2026; and additional Phase 2 readouts for oral GLP-1 CT-996 are guided before year-end. Roche executives projected $9B in peak sales for the obesity pipeline and confirmed petrelintide and enicepatide ADA 2026 data presentations in June. On April 30, Zealand and Roche announced petrelintide's formal advancement to Phase 3 in chronic weight management.
Stories here cover the enicepatide and petrelintide programs, Carmot integration, and Q1/Q2 readouts. See #enicepatide, #petrelintide, and #zealand-pharma.
Roche (SIX: ROG) presented new Elecsys plasma phosphorylated-tau 217 (pTau217) blood test performance data at AAIC 2026 in London (July 12-15, 2026) covering both primary care and secondary care settings. The Elecsys pTau217 in vitro diagnostic assay, developed in collaboration with Eli Lilly, received CE Mark certification on May 12, 2026 as an amyloid-pathology rule-in and rule-out test for adults presenting with symptoms of cognitive decline. The same high and low cutoffs of the blood test can be used across primary care (family physicians, general internists) and secondary care (memory clinics, neurology specialty practice) to rule in or rule out amyloid pathology, which simplifies the diagnostic pathway substantially compared with amyloid PET imaging or lumbar puncture. The AAIC 2026 presentations evaluated Elecsys pTau217 performance across both care settings and add real-world diagnostic evidence to the tau-blood-test infrastructure that Eli Lilly's Samantha Burnham anchored earlier in the week with the rule-in-versus-amyloid-PET data set. Roche's AAIC 2026 program spanned undiagnosed Alzheimer's pathology in cardiovascular patients, ApoE4-dependent CETP-inhibitor dose response, and Alzheimer's diagnostic-and-therapeutic integration.
BioPharma Dive's June 8 ADA wrap framed the meeting's competitive sort: Lilly reinforced its lead with retatrutide (28.3%) and Foundayo's head-to-head win over oral semaglutide; Pfizer's berobenatide emerged as 'foundational' with the monthly-dosing differentiation; Roche's enicepatide drew 'me-too' framing from RBC's Trung Huynh ('does little to differentiate enicepatide from its peers'). Novo Nordisk lost ground after CagriSema missed non-inferiority versus its target competitor on some endpoints. Lilly closed about 4.5% higher Monday on the data; Novo fell 3.46%.
Genentech presented Phase 2 CT388-103 data for enicepatide, the once-weekly GLP-1/GIP dual agonist, at the Roche investor event Monday June 8. The 48-week study produced 22.5% placebo-adjusted weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity, with 26% of participants losing more than 30% of body weight and almost 40% reaching at least 25%. Both enicepatide and petrelintide advance into Phase 3, and the planned Phase 2 multi-arm fixed-dose combination of the two starts mid-2026.
Roche presented ZUPREME-1 Phase 2 data for petrelintide, the once-weekly long-acting amylin analog licensed from Zealand Pharma, at the Monday June 8 investor event. The pitch hinges on tolerability: published topline showed up to 10.7% weight loss at 42 weeks versus 1.7% placebo, with discontinuation 4.8% vs 4.9% placebo and no vomiting at the maximally effective dose. Medical Daily framed the readout as a non-incretin option for the estimated 30-40% of patients who quit GLP-1s for GI side effects. Petrelintide advances to Phase 3 alongside enicepatide.
Genentech confirmed at its Monday investor event that the planned Phase 2 multi-arm fixed-dose combination of petrelintide (amylin analog) and enicepatide (GLP-1/GIP) starts mid-2026. The setup mirrors Novo's CagriSema and Lilly's Mounjaro-plus-amylin work, with Roche aiming for the same dual-mechanism economics that produced REIMAGINE 2's head-to-head win this week. Roche projected $9 billion in peak annual sales for the combined obesity pipeline at its Q1 print.
Genentech, Roche's US arm, will present detailed Phase 2 ZUPREME-1 data for the amylin analog petrelintide and Phase 2 CT388-103 data for the GLP-1/GIP agonist enicepatide as late-breakers at ADA 2026, with a June 8 virtual investor event. The Roche obesity package combines the two peptides as a planned fixed-dose Phase 2 combination later this year, and the company has projected $9 billion in peak annual sales for the combined pipeline.
Roche will present detailed Phase 2 ZUPREME-1 data for the amylin analog petrelintide as an ADA 2026 late-breaker, with a June 8 investor event. In 493 adults with overweight or obesity (mean BMI 37), once-weekly petrelintide produced up to 10.7% mean weight loss at week 42 versus 1.7% on placebo, with treatment discontinuation of 4.8% versus 4.9% on placebo and no vomiting or GI-related discontinuations at the maximally effective dose. That tolerability is the amylin class's central pitch against the incretins.
Zealand Pharma reported Q1 2026 revenue of DKK 34M against DKK 8M a year earlier and the DKK 17M analyst consensus — a more-than-2× beat on the recognition of Roche's $700M (DKK 4.5B) milestone payment tied to petrelintide's advancement into Phase 3. The board authorized a share buyback of up to DKK 1.3B. Net operating expenses came in at DKK 573M (below the DKK 679M consensus), and the company reaffirmed petrelintide Phase 3 obesity initiation in H2 2026. Petrelintide is the long-acting amylin analog that posted ~10.7% mean weight loss with placebo-like tolerability in ZUPREME-1; the Roche partnership combines it with the GLP-1/GIP enicepatide (CT-388) in a fixed-dose Phase 2 starting mid-2026. Shares rose 8.4% to DKK 344.
On the April 23 Q1 call and follow-up coverage, Roche clarified that its two Phase 3 enicepatide (CT-388) obesity trials — ENITH 1 and ENITH 2 — were both successfully initiated in Q1, with the dual GLP-1/GIP agonist on track to compete in the next-wave Phase 3 obesity readouts. Phase 2 reported 22.5% placebo-adjusted weight loss for enicepatide. Roche also confirmed the petrelintide+enicepatide fixed-dose combination Phase 2 will dose its first patient around mid-2026, pairing the Zealand-derived amylin analog (placebo-like tolerability, 10.7% mean weight loss in ZUPREME-1 at week 42) with Roche's stronger GLP-1/GIP backbone. Additional Phase 2 readouts for oral GLP-1 CT-996 are guided before year-end 2026.
Zealand Pharma announced April 29 that it and partner Roche have formally endorsed advancing petrelintide — a long-acting amylin analog suitable for once-weekly subcutaneous administration — into Phase 3 trials for chronic weight management, with initiation planned for H2 2026. The Phase 3 program will evaluate petrelintide as monotherapy and in combination with Roche's GLP-1/GIP receptor dual agonist enicepatide (CT-388). The decision follows positive Phase 2 ZUPREME-1 data showing up to 10.7% weight loss with placebo-like tolerability; petrelintide is now positioned as the lead non-GLP-1 obesity asset behind only Novo's CagriSema.
Roche reported Q1 2026 sales up 6% at constant exchange rates and used the earnings call to re-anchor its obesity strategy. Executives project $9 billion in peak annual sales from the emerging breast cancer pill plus four obesity candidates. Lead asset petrelintide (licensed from Zealand Pharma, ZUPREME-1 Phase 2 showed up to 10.7% weight loss with placebo-like tolerability) is positioned at a differentiated patient segment. CEO Schinecker said Roche is not investing in the first generation of obesity drugs, but the next — with petrelintide and CT-388 (enicepatide) data headed for ADA 2026.