Aardvark pauses two obesity drug trials as it reviews side effects

Merck & Co., Inc. +3.13% Pre
Eli Lilly and Company +2.55% Pre
Aardvark Therapeutics, Inc. +4.81% Pre

Merck & Co., Inc.

MRK

119.07

118.52

+3.13%

-0.46% Pre

Eli Lilly and Company

LLY

927.03

925.00

+2.55%

-0.22% Pre

Aardvark Therapeutics, Inc.

AARD

5.23

5.23

+4.81%

0.00% Pre

March 23 (Reuters) - Aardvark Therapeutics AARD.O said on Monday it has voluntarily paused two mid-stage studies testing its experimental combination treatment for obesity as it reviews side effects associated with one of the drugs.

  • The combination treatment, ARD-201, was being tested to induce weight loss and prevent weight regain among patients who have lost about 15% of body weight on the popular GLP-1 class of drugs, which includes Eli Lilly's LLY.N Zepbound and Novo Nordisk's NOVOb.CO Wegovy.

  • ARD-201 is a combination of Aardvark's experimental drug, ARD-101, and Merck's diabetes drug MRK.N Januvia, chemically known as sitagliptin.

  • ARD-101 is designed to trigger the release of multiple gut-peptide hormones, including GLP-1, to regulate hunger.

  • Last month, the company identified heart-related side effects during safety monitoring of ARD-101 in a healthy-volunteer study. It then paused a late-stage trial testing ARD-101 in patients with a rare genetic disorder called Prader-Willi syndrome.

  • Aardvark said it expects to provide further updates on the drugs in the second quarter of 2026.


This page is machine-translated. Sahm tries to improve but does not guarantee the accuracy and reliability of the translation, and will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by any inaccuracy or omission of the translation. *Disclaimer: The above content only represents the author's personal position and opinion and does not represent any position of Sahm Capital Financial Company and Sahm cannot confirm the authenticity, accuracy, and originality of the above content. Investors should consider the risks of investment products in light of their circumstances before making any investment decisions. When necessary, please consult a professional investment advisor. Sahm does not provide any investment advice, nor does it make any commitments and guarantees.