Roche to fast-track weight loss drugs to compete with rivals, FT reports

(Reuters) -Swiss drugmaker Roche plans to accelerate the development of its anti-obesity drugs to challenge rivals like Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk in the booming market, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

Roche is among a growing number of would-be rivals to Novo and Eli Lilly, whose weight-loss injections have been in feverish demand, with experts boosting their sales forecasts for such treatments to as much as $150 billion by the early 2030s.

Roche CEO Thomas Schinecker told the newspaper that their first obesity drugs would come to market "significantly faster than people are expecting," potentially by 2028.

The company said earlier this month that its second drug candidate, an experimental once-daily pill, which it acquired from its purchase of Carmot Therapeutics yielded positive results in an early-stage trial.

Schinecker told FT that Roche could have "around seven" drugs from the Carmot acquisition, with several in an earlier stage of development.

Roche did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

(Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)