ALT - Altimmune: Lean Muscle Fat Data Sends Stock Soaring - Competitors Will Take Note

2024-06-24 14:38:14 ET

Summary

• Altimmune, Inc. shares surged nearly 30% after positive Phase 2 clinical study results for pemvidutide, a GLP-1/glucagon dual receptor agonist for obesity and MASH.
• Pemvidutide may compete with Novo Nordisk's semaglutide and Eli Lilly's tirzepatide, which have demonstrated miraculous weight loss improvements, and will likely dominate a ~$130bn market.
• Altimmune's latest data shows significant weight loss and lean muscle preservation - the latter may be most significant.
• If pemvidutide can show it removes less lean muscle fat than competing GLP-1 agonist drugs, it may be on a fast track to approval and a double-digit billion dollar revenue opportunity.
• It is not quite so simple as it sounds, however - other candidates are yet to fully show their hands, and Altimmune is a minnow compared to the large pharmas crowding this space. Nevertheless, it is an interesting development.

Investment Overview

Shares of Altimmune, Inc. ( ALT ), the Gaithersburg, Maryland-based biotech focused on development of its GLP-1/glucagon dual receptor agonist, pemvidutide, in development for the treatment of obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (“MASH”), are soaring in trading today, up nearly 30%, after management shared fresh Phase 2 clinical study in a press release yesterday.

As readers may well be aware, being a GLP-1 agonist puts pemvidutide in the same class of drug as Novo Nordisk's ( NVO ) semaglutide, and Eli Lilly's tirzepatide, which are both approved to treat obesity, under the brand names Wegovy and Zepbound respectively, and to treat diabetes, under the respective brand names Ozempic and Mounjaro....

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