Verdiva launches with $410M for weight loss drugs to challenge Ozempic, Wegovy

Biotechnology company headquartered in London launch Verdiva has come out of the closet with a whopping $410 million for a new line of drugs aimed at combating… obesity epidemic. This is one of Europe’s largest biotech venture deals, signaling investor appetite for booming weight loss market.

Verdiva aims to challenge dominance Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, makers of two of the most popular weight loss drugs: Ozempic and Wegovy. The company promises to offer less invasive pills instead of injections. Now it’s alreadyThe first breakthrough product is an oral GLP-1 drug that suppresses hunger.

Verdiva was founded in July 2024 by executives from Aiolos Bio, a biotech company sold to GSK last year for $1.4 billion. The young company does not develop its treatments from scratch. The company acquired the rights to a set of weight loss drugs from the Chinese company Sciwind Biosciences.

Verdiva CEO Hurem Farooq, a former Aiolos Bio executive, said current weight-loss drugs leave “serious medical needs” unmet.

“People living with obesity and its complications deserve better options at every step of their care,” Farooq said. “Our most mature program has the potential to become a first-in-class once-weekly oral therapy for obesity and weight loss, which could significantly improve patient access and affordability.”

General Atlantic and Dutch biotech venture capital Forbion led the Series A round, which comes as demand for anti-obesity drugs surges. Global spending on these drugs surpassed $30 billion for the first time in 2024. evaluateBy 2031, the GLP-1 drug market could reach annual sales of more than $200 billion.

The rapid growth in popularity of weight loss drugs correlates with rising obesity rates around the world. In the USA, where more than 40% of the adult population obeseevery eighth person report having taken drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic at least once. Even Elon Musk admitted that he took Ozempic. In Europe, which has lower obesity rates, usage is lower but sales, especially of Wegovy, are falling. rapid growth. However, some patients experienced troubling side effects.

Whether Verdiva’s new treatments will be a better alternative to the status quo remains to be seen. The company states that its The GLP-1 drug has completed phase 1 trials and is ready for phase 2, where the drug is tested in more people. But it still has to go through phase three trials, which could take years. Only after all three trials are completed can the drug appear on store shelves. Most drugs never make it out of clinical trials.

However, this uncertainty is clearly not deterring investors. Last year alone, there were several large rounds in this space, including a California headquarters. BioAge LaboratoriesSeries D round valued at $170 million, headquartered in New York. ‘Mezera’raising $350 million in 2024 venture capitalists invested over $1.2 billion in weight loss startups, the second-highest level ever.