Rachel Warren

Really a key feature of the drugs that Mitzera is developing is the potential for once-monthly dosing.

That would be a significant improvement over the weekly injections of current treatments.

So their lead candidates, one's a monthly injectable GLP-1 receptor.

They're also working on an oral version.

They've also got a monthly amylin analog candidate.

And Pfizer plans to use their own manufacturing and commercial infrastructure to help accelerate Mitzera's drugs, which is a really key advantage.

So good things happening from this deal.

Yeah, I think that's a fair way to put it, especially because these candidates, while certainly notable to add into Pfizer's wheelhouse, are not nearly as advanced as many of the other ones we're talking about from Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, who are working, of course, on their own oral formulations.

Eli Lilly notably has their next-generation GLP-1 that they're going to be seeking regulatory approval for in the coming months.

now, those are the two key leaders, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.

You have a lot of other companies working on their own versions.

I think as the years progress, it's going to become a more competitive space.

You're not just going to have these two dominant players.

I think that's where Pfizer sees an opportunity to join that space, so to speak, and maybe differentiate with their own products in the future.

It's an interesting dynamic.

I do think the opportunity for a lot of these telehealth companies like the HIMS and HERS of the world is probably in the long run going to be in these branded partnerships with key players like Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.

For example, there was a time when HIMS and HERS were manufacturing compounded versions of these GLP-1s, which they were legally allowed to do when there was a shortage, the shortage is over.

Now, there's this legal gray area in which they operate, where they're able to offer individualized doses.

But there's some concern about the safety there that's not specifically vetted by the FDA versus getting it straight from the source, like Eli Lilly and Nova Nordisk.

And those companies, I will note, also have their own direct-to-consumer platforms where they are offering, in many cases, cheaper... Which does, if you look at those sites, it does remind me a little bit of Sears having a website in 1998.