AbbVie’s hometown R&D team in North Chicago is getting an early win in the weight loss race. On March 9, the company said its long‑acting amylin candidate ABBV‑295 helped study participants lose roughly 7.8% to 9.8% of their body weight over about three months in the multiple‑ascending‑dose portion of a Phase 1 trial.
The early readout comes from 76 adults with a mean BMI under 30, in a group that was mostly male at 88.3%. AbbVie reported a favorable safety profile, with side effects largely limited to mild gastrointestinal issues and no serious adverse events reported.
According to PR Newswire, least‑squares mean percentage changes in body weight ranged from −7.75% to −9.79% at week 12 for weekly dosing cohorts and from −7.86% to −9.73% at week 13 for every‑other‑week and monthly dosing schedules, compared with about −0.25% in placebo groups. The multiple‑ascending‑dose portion tested doses from 2 mg to 14 mg across different titration schedules. “We are encouraged by these early results for ABBV‑295,” a senior development executive said in the release.
What The Phase 1 Data Show
The multiple‑ascending‑dose data suggest ABBV‑295 can drive clinically meaningful early weight loss, although experts note that Phase 1 trials are short and are not designed to prove long‑term benefit. The relatively low mean BMI and brief 12 to 13 week follow‑up make one‑to‑one comparisons with the larger GLP‑1 and dual‑agonist obesity programs tricky at this stage.
As summarized by BioSpace, placebo groups showed essentially no change while patients receiving ABBV‑295 had dose‑dependent drops in body weight.
How ABBV‑295 Differs From GLP‑1 Drugs
ABBV‑295 is an amylin analog that activates amylin and calcitonin receptors to curb appetite and slow gastric emptying, a pathway distinct from incretin therapies such as GLP‑1 or GIP agonists. The drug was discovered at Gubra and later licensed to AbbVie. As noted by Gubra, amylin‑based approaches could eventually serve as alternatives or add‑on partners to GLP‑1 drugs for certain patients, although head‑to‑head data are still to come.
What’s Next For ABBV‑295
AbbVie plans to present full results from the Phase 1 study at a future scientific meeting and has additional testing in the works. The trial is listed as NCT06144684 on ClinicalTrials.gov.
The ABBV‑295 program follows AbbVie’s 2025 licensing deal for the asset and its growing slate of obesity‑related investments covered by industry outlets such as BioPharma Dive, and it has also drawn regional attention from Crain’s Chicago Business. Clinicians and investors will be watching to see whether a non‑incretin strategy can ultimately match the long‑term weight loss durability and cardiometabolic benefits seen in late‑stage GLP‑1 and dual‑agonist trials.
