Roche shares gained nearly 6% on Wednesday morning on the Swiss market, following the announcement of the success of a Phase I clinical trial in the treatment of obesity.

Administered over a four-week period, the CT-996 tablet achieved a 'clinically significant' weight reduction of 7.3% in study participants, compared with 1.2% in the placebo group.

On the basis of these findings, Roche says it intends to advance the development of its drug into Phase II trials.

For the record, the pharmaceutical group got its hands on CT-996, a GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist, as part of the $2.7 billion acquisition of Carmot Therapeutics, which closed at the end of 2023.

Roche shares are currently up 5.7% on the Zurich stock exchange, while the SMI index is up 0.3%. In sector terms, the European healthcare index is down 0.5%.

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