Pfizer (PFE) stock was up on Monday despite the pharmaceutical company ending the clinical trial of its once-daily GLP-1 weight loss pill, danuglipron. The company had to cut this trial off early after one patient suffered liver damage. This is believed to have been caused by danuglipron, as the issue subsided once the person stopped taking the weight loss drug.
That’s a major blow to Pfizer as the company hoped to enter the GLP-1 weight loss race with danuglipron. It hoped the pill would compete against other weight loss drugs, such as Novo Nordisk’s (NVO) Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s (LLY) Zepbound. Danuglipron could have offered a significant advantage over those two drugs as they require weekly injections compared to Pfizer’s once-daily pill plan.
This marks the second time that danuglipron has failed Pfizer. The first time was when it discontinued a trial of patients taking the pill twice a day. It did so due to a high number of patient withdrawals over negative side effects, such as vomiting and nausea.
What’s Next for Pfizer?
Pfizer has given up on the development of danuglipron after this latest failure. The company said it would no longer continue to research the molecule. Instead, PFE intends to continue research and development of its other weight loss drug candidates.
Despite today’s failed clinical trial news, PFE stock was up 1.12% on Monday morning. Even so, the shares are still down 15.11% year-to-date.
Is PFE Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, the analysts’ consensus rating for Pfizer is Moderate Buy, based on four Buy and 10 Hold ratings. With that comes an average price target of $28.67, representing a potential 29.64% upside for PFE stock. These ratings and price targets may change as analysts reevaluate Pfizer after its clinical trial failure.
