New data from a closely tracked, mid-stage study of the Amgen obesity drug, called MariTide, showed that it helped participants lose a substantial amount of weight, but questions about how competitive it could be appear to be shaping the response to the news, with the company’s share price falling on the announcement. 

MariTide led to an average of roughly 20% weight loss over a year in the Phase 2 study in participants who had obesity or who were overweight without type 2 diabetes. The company added that weight loss had not plateaued at that point, suggesting that there was potential for more weight loss.

Among participants who did have type 2 diabetes, who typically lose less weight on this class of drugs, MariTide led to an average of roughly 17% weight loss after a year. 

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