Next-Gen Weight Loss 'Black Tech' 2.0? A Quick Guide to Small Nucleic Acid Drugs

On Tuesday (January 13), pharmaceutical stocks surged, and small nucleic acid drugs, which have made new progress in the weight loss application field, received attention due to catalytic factors from both domestic and international news.

In terms of news, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, a U.S.-listed pharmaceutical company, recently announced the interim Phase I/IIa data for its two RNAi therapies, ARO-INHBE and ARO-ALK7. The core highlight is the precise reduction of visceral fat while avoiding muscle loss, directly addressing the key pain points of current GLP-1 class drugs like semaglutide.

In addition, on January 9, one of the leading stocks in China's small nucleic acid sector,Ribo Life Science-BOfficially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with an IPO price of HK$57.97 per share, a market capitalization of HK$9.373 billion, and a total fundraising amount of HK$1.593 billion. By the close of trading on the first day, the stock price had risen by 41.62%. Over a longer timeframe, in the three trading days since its listing, Ribo Life Science's cumulative increase has been 39.55%.

According to the comprehensive analysis of institutional research reports, although GLP-1 drugs still lead in terms of absolute percentage of weight loss, they come with side effects such as muscle loss. For the first time in human trials, small nucleic acid drugs have been shown to effectively achieve "fat reduction without muscle loss."

Tianfeng Securities(Maintain Rights)Recent research reports show that GLP-1 drugs, while inducing weight loss, also lead to a reduction in lean body mass and skeletal muscle loss, which is a problem that cannot be ignored in clinical applications. Small nucleic acid therapies directly interfere with the expression of obesity-related genes, offering three core advantages: long-lasting convenience, precise weight reduction, and co-treatment of metabolic diseases. These therapies reduce fat while ensuring no loss of muscle mass.

And besidesWeight Loss MedicationIn addition, small nucleic acid drugs have applications in multiple fields.Founder SecuritiesThe research report shows that the indications of marketed small nucleic acid drugs present the characteristics of "mainly rare diseases, breakthrough in chronic diseases."

1) Rare Diseases: Small nucleic acid drugs, with their precise regulation of single-gene defects, have seen密集获批products in the fields of genetic rare diseases such as ATTR and DMD;

2) Chronic diseases: With the advantages of specific targeting of the liver and long-lasting efficacy, breakthroughs have been successively achieved in hyperlipidemia and hemophilia (Fitusiran), validating the clinical value of small nucleic acid drugs in chronic diseases, with broad commercial prospects.

Founder SecuritiesIt is reported that in China's biopharmaceutical companies, many are focusing on or entering the small nucleic acid sector. Among listed companies in this field, Ribo Life Science is the leader, while others include...Yuekang Pharmaceutical、Bebetter、CSPC Group、Dongyang LightMedicine,Fuyuan Pharmaceutical、HitGenExisting pipelines are already in the clinical stage,Sunshine Nova、MabwellAll have layouts.

And there are several large BD deals for small nucleic acid drugs.Everbright SecuritiesThe research report shows that 2024-2025 will be a "major year for going global" for China's small nucleic acid industry. For instance, Bowang Pharmaceutical has reached an in-depth strategic cooperation with Novartis, involving licensing deals for multiple small nucleic acid drugs, with a total amount exceeding 5 billion US dollars, setting a record for domestic small nucleic acid BD. Ribo Life Science has also reached a collaboration worth over 2 billion US dollars with Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) for small nucleic acid drugs targeting NASH/MASH (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis).