A Phase 2b Study to Examine the Safety and Efficacy of Once-Weekly MET097 in Adults With Obesity or Overweight (VESPER-1)

A Phase 2b, Multi-Center, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of 28 Weeks to Investigate the Safety and Efficacy of Once-Weekly MET097 in Adults With Obesity or Overweight Followed by a 32-Week Extension (VESPER-1)

This study is designed to test how well MET097, an active drug, works to treat individuals with obesity or overweight when compared to placebo. MET097 or placebo will be given to individuals weekly for 28 weeks. If an individual is assigned to MET097 they will receive one of four different dose levels. Participants who have completed the first 28 weeks may participate in an exploratory extension study.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Obesity; Overweight or Obesity
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: MET097; Drug: Placebo

Detailed Description

This is a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to investigate the efficacy and safety of four different dose levels of MET097 vs. placebo for body weight loss in adult participants with obesity or overweight (body mass index [BMI] 27 to 50 kg/m2, aged 18 to 70), after 28 weeks with once weekly dosing. Participants who have completed the first 28 weeks may participate in an exploratory extension study that includes less frequent dosing regimens. After the dosing period, there is an additional post-treatment follow-up period.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 239
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Anaheim, California, United States, 92801
      • Anaheim Clinical Trials, LLC
  • Florida
    • Hollywood, Florida, United States, 92801
      • Research Centers of America

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Body mass index (BMI) at Screening of:

  • BMI ≥30 kg/m2 and ≤50.0 kg/m2 (can have the weight-related co-morbidities listed below)

  • BMI ≥27.0 kg/m2 to <30.0 kg/m2 with at least one of the following weight-related co-morbidities:

    1. Hypertension: on blood pressure (BP)-lowering medication or having systolic BP ≥130 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥80 mmHg at Screening
    2. Dyslipidemia: on lipid-lowering medication or having low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) ≥160 mg/dL (4.1 mmol/L) or triglycerides ≥150 mg/dL (1.7 mmol/L), or high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) <40 mg/dL (1.0 mmol/L) for men or HDL-C <50 mg/dL (1.3 mmol/L) for women at Screening

Stable body weight (increase or decrease ≤5 kg) within 3 months prior to Screening

Exclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosis of diabetes (T1DM or T2DM) or glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) ≥ 6.5% or fasting plasma glucose >125 mg/dL.
• Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <75 mL/min/1.73 m2
• History of pancreatitis
• Family or personal history of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) or multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2 (MEN-2)
• History of significant active or unstable major depressive disorder (MDD) or other severe psychiatric disorder within the last 2 years
• Any lifetime history of a suicide attempt.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Quadruple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: Placebo; Sterile 0.9% (w/v) saline will be used as placebo treatment during the study.	Drug: Placebo; Sterile 0.9% (w/v) saline will be used as placebo treatment during the study.
Experimental: MET097 Active; MET097 will be administered at four different dose levels subcutaneously once-weekly without titration. The extension phase includes dosing regimens that are less frequent than weekly.	Drug: MET097; MET097 is an ultra-long-acting, fully-biased analog of human GLP-1.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Percent Change From Baseline in Body Weight at Week 28: Part A	Analysis was performed using mixed model for repeated measures (MMRM) with treatment group, visit, and treatment by visit interaction, sex, and baseline body weight as fixed effects using unstructured covariance. The analysis excluded weight measurements after protocol specified intercurrent events (ICEs) including permanent treatment discontinuation, non-compliance to treatment and lifestyle change.	Baseline (last non-missing measurement prior to the first dose), Week 28

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Percent Change From Baseline in Body Weight at Days 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, 43, 50, 57, 64, 71, 78, 85, 92, 99, 106, 113, 141 and 169: Part A	Analysis was performed using MMRM with treatment group, visit, and treatment by visit interaction, sex, and baseline body weight as fixed effects using unstructured covariance excluding weight measurements after protocol specified intercurrent ICEs.	Baseline, Day 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, 43, 50, 57, 64, 71, 78, 85, 92, 99, 106, 113, 141 and 169
Number of Participants With Reduction in Body Weight Greater Than or Equal to (>=) 5 Percent (%) From Baseline at Week 28: Part A		Baseline, Week 28
Number of Participants With Reduction in Body Weight >= 10 % From Baseline at Week 28: Part A		Baseline, Week 28
Number of Participants With Reduction in Body Weight >= 15 % From Baseline at Week 28: Part A		Baseline, Week 28
Change From Baseline in Body Weight at Days 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, 43, 50, 57, 64, 71, 78, 85, 92, 99, 106, 113, 141, 169 and 197: Part A		Baseline, Days 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, 43, 50, 57, 64, 71, 78, 85, 92, 99, 106, 113, 141, 169 and 197
Change From Baseline in Body Mass Index (BMI) at Days 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, 43, 50, 57, 64, 71, 78, 85, 92, 99, 106, 113, 141, 169 and 197: Part A	BMI was derived from body weight in kilograms (kg) and height in meters (m), and it was calculated as weight divided by height^2.	Baseline, Days 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, 43, 50, 57, 64, 71, 78, 85, 92, 99, 106, 113, 141, 169 and 197
Change From Baseline in Waist Circumference at Days 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, 43, 50, 57, 64, 71, 78, 85, 92, 99, 106, 113, 141, 169 and 197: Part A		Baseline, Days 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, 43, 50, 57, 64, 71, 78, 85, 92, 99, 106, 113, 141, 169 and 197
Number of Participants With Gastrointestinal (GI) Adverse Event of Clinical Interest (AECI): Part A	An adverse event (AE) was defined as any untoward medical occurrence in a participant administered an investigational product and which did not necessarily have a causal relationship with the treatment. Gastrointestinal AECIs included nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.	From Day 1 of dosing up to 28 days after last dose for Part A
Number of Participants With Treatment Related Gastrointestinal AECIs: Part A	An AE was defined as any untoward medical occurrence in a participant administered an investigational product and which did not necessarily have a causal relationship with the treatment. Gastrointestinal AECIs included nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Treatment related gastrointestinal AECIs were GI AECIs that were related to study drug and relatedness was judged by investigator.	From Day 1 of dosing up to 28 days after last dose for Part A
Number of Participants With Gastrointestinal AECI and Treatment Related AECIs by Severity: Part A	An AE was defined as any untoward medical occurrence in a participant administered an investigational product and which did not necessarily have a causal relationship with the treatment. Gastrointestinal AECIs included nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Treatment related GI AECIs were GI AECIs that were related to study drug and relatedness was judged by investigator. Severity was assessed as mild: asymptomatic or mild symptoms, clinical or diagnostic observations only, intervention not indicated; moderate: minimal, local or non-invasive intervention indicated, limiting age-appropriate instrumental activities of daily living and severe: medically significant but not immediately life-threatening, hospitalization or prolongation of hospitalization indicated, disabling, limiting self-care activities of daily living or life-threatening consequences, urgent intervention indicated or death related to an AE.	From Day 1 of dosing up to 28 days after last dose for Part A
Number of Participants With Treatment Emergent Adverse Events (TEAEs) and Treatment-Related TEAEs: Part A	An AE was defined as any untoward medical occurrence in a participant administered an investigational product and which does not necessarily have a causal relationship with the treatment. A TEAE was defined as any AE which on or after exposure to study treatment. Treatment related TEAEs were TEAEs that were related to study drug and relatedness was judged by investigator.	Up to Week 37
Number of Participants With TEAEs and Treatment-Related TEAEs by Severity: Part A	An AE was defined as any untoward medical occurrence in participant administered an investigational product and which does not necessarily have causal relationship with treatment. A TEAE was defined as any AE which on or after exposure to study treatment up to 28 days following the last dose. Treatment related TEAEs were TEAEs that were related to study drug and relatedness was judged by investigator. Severity: mild: asymptomatic/ mild symptoms, clinical/ diagnostic observations only, intervention not indicated; moderate: minimal, local/ non-invasive intervention indicated, limiting age-appropriate instrumental activities of daily living and severe: medically significant but not immediately life-threatening, hospitalization/ prolongation of hospitalization indicated, disabling, limiting self-care activities of daily living/ life-threatening consequences, urgent intervention indicated/ death related to an AE.	Up to Week 37
Number of Participants With Abnormal Clinically Significant Physical Examination: Part A	The physical examination included examination of the following body systems (at minimum): head and neck (including complete thyroid exam), cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, brief neurological, and general appearance. Clinical significance will be judged by investigator.	From Day 1 of dosing up to post treatment follow up for Part A
Number of Participants With Clinically Significant Electrocardiogram (ECG) Abnormalities: Part A	Twelve lead ECGs were measured with the participant in a supine position after at least 5 minutes. Clinical significance will be judged by investigator.	From Day 1 of dosing up to post treatment follow up for Part A
Number of Participants With Potential Clinically Significant Laboratory Values: Part A	Laboratory parameters assessed included alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (units per liter [U/L]): greater than (>) 1*upper limit of normal (ULN), >3*ULN and >5*ULN; alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (U/L): >2*ULN; amylase (U/L): >1*ULN and >3*ULN; aspartate aminotransferase (AST): >1*ULN, >3*ULN and >5*ULN; estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (Ckd-Epi [chronic kidney disease epidemiology collaboration]) (milliliter per minute per 1.73m^2): less than (<) 60 mL/min/1.73m^2, 60-90 mL/min/1.73m^2 and >90 mL/min/1.73m^2; Lipase: >1*ULN and >3*ULN; neutrophils: <1.5, <0.5, 0.5 to <1, 1 to <1.5 and total bilirubin (milligrams per deciliter): >2* upper limit of normal (ULN). Potential clinical significance was judged by investigator.	From Day 1 of dosing up to post treatment follow up for Part A
Number of Participants According to Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) Categories: Part A	The C-SSRS is a questionnaire designed for the assessment of suicidal ideation and behavior in adolescents and adults. C-SSRS were evaluated through category 1 to 10. Suicidal ideation score was defined as the maximum suicidal ideation category (i.e., category 1-5), with 0 assigned if no ideation was present. Suicidal ideation, defined as 'Yes' if 'Yes' was present in any of category 1-5 and suicidal behavior, defined as 'Yes' if 'Yes' was present in any of category 6-10 and suicidal ideation or behavior, defined as 'Yes' if 'Yes' was present in any of Category 1-10.	From Day 1 of dosing up to post treatment follow up for Part A
Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) Total Score: Part A	The PHQ-9 is a questionnaire designed to monitor and measure the severity of depression in participants. The questions included "little interest/pleasure in things", "feeling down depressed or hopeless", "trouble falling or staying asleep", "feeling tired or little energy", "poor appetite or overeating", "feeling bad about yourself", "trouble concentrating on things", "moving slowly or fidgety/restless" and "thoughts you be better off dead". Each item was scored on scale of "0=not at all", "several days", "more than half the days" to "nearly every day". The total score ranges from 0 to 27 by adding score for each question (total points) where: Score 1-4: minimal depression; Score 5-9: Mild depression; Score 10-14: moderate depression; Score 15-19 moderately severe depression; Score 20-27: Severe depression. Higher score indicates greater severity of depression.	From Day 1 of dosing up to post treatment follow up for Part A
Number of Participants With Anti Drug Antibodies (ADAs): Part A	Number of participants with baseline, positive and negative ADAs are reported in this outcome measure.	From Day 1 of dosing up to post treatment follow up for Part A
Minimum Observed Concentration (Cmin) of Berobenatide: Part A		From pre-dose on Day 1 up to 168 hours post-dose
Area Under the Concentration Versus Time Curve During the Dosing Interval (AUC[0-tau]) of Berobenatide: Part A	AUCtau was area under the concentration versus time curve during the dosing interval (tau), where, tau=168 hours.	From pre-dose on Day 1 up to 168 hours post-dose
Maximum Observed Concentration (Cmax) of Berobenatide: Part A	Cmax was observed directly from data.	From pre-dose on Day 1 up to 168 hours post-dose
Time to Maximum Concentration (Tmax) of Berobenatide: Part A		From pre-dose on Day 1 up to 168 hours post-dose
Plasma Concentration of Berobenatide: Part A		From pre-dose on Day 1 up to 168 hours post-dose
Percent Change From Baseline in Body Weight: Part B		Baseline (last available measurement prior to first dose received in Part A), End of study
Number of Participants With TEAEs: Part B	An AE was defined as any untoward medical occurrence in a participant administered an investigational product and which does not necessarily have a causal relationship with the treatment. A TEAE was defined as any AE which on or after exposure to study treatment up to 28 days following the last dose.	From Day 1 of dosing in Part B up to 28 days after last dose for Part B

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Pfizer
• Investigators: Study Director: Pfizer CT.gov Call Center, Pfizer

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• To obtain contact information for a study center near you, click here.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 9, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 3, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): April 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 27, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 27, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): December 2, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 28, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 6, 2026
• Last Verified: August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: GLP-1; Overweight
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nutrition Disorders; Overnutrition; Body Weight; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Overweight; Obesity
• Other Study ID Numbers: VESPER-1 (MET097-24-201); C6491004 (Other Identifier: Alias Study Number)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Pfizer will provide access to individual de-identified participant data and related study documents (e.g. protocol, Statistical Analysis Plan (SAP), Clinical Study Report (CSR)) upon request from qualified researchers, and subject to certain criteria, conditions, and exceptions. Further details on Pfizer's data sharing criteria and process for requesting access can be found at: https://www.pfizer.com/science/clinical_trials/trial_data_and_results/data_requests.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No