<p>March 23 (Reuters) - Aardvark Therapeutics said on Monday it has voluntarily paused two mid-stage studies testing its experimental combination treatment for obesity as it reviews side effects associated with one of the drugs.</p><p>The combination treatment, ARD-201, was being tested to induce weight loss and prevent weight regain among patients who have lost about 15% of body weight on the popular GLP-1 class of drugs, which includes Eli Lilly's Zepbound and Novo Nordisk's Wegovy.</p><p>ARD-201 is a combination of Aardvark's experimental drug, ARD-101, and Merck's diabetes drug Januvia, chemically known as sitagliptin.</p><p>ARD-101 is designed to trigger the release of multiple gut-peptide hormones, including GLP-1, to regulate hunger.</p><p>Last month, the company identified heart-related side effects during safety monitoring of ARD-101 in a healthy-volunteer study. It then paused a late-stage trial testing ARD-101 in patients with a rare genetic disorder called Prader-Willi syndrome.</p><p>Aardvark said it expects to provide further updates on the drugs in the second quarter of 2026. </p>
<p>March 23 (Reuters) - Aardvark Therapeutics said on Monday it has voluntarily paused two mid-stage studies testing its experimental combination treatment for obesity as it reviews side effects associated with one of the drugs.</p><p>The combination treatment, ARD-201, was being tested to induce weight loss and prevent weight regain among patients who have lost about 15% of body weight on the popular GLP-1 class of drugs, which includes Eli Lilly's Zepbound and Novo Nordisk's Wegovy.</p><p>ARD-201 is a combination of Aardvark's experimental drug, ARD-101, and Merck's diabetes drug Januvia, chemically known as sitagliptin.</p><p>ARD-101 is designed to trigger the release of multiple gut-peptide hormones, including GLP-1, to regulate hunger.</p><p>Last month, the company identified heart-related side effects during safety monitoring of ARD-101 in a healthy-volunteer study. It then paused a late-stage trial testing ARD-101 in patients with a rare genetic disorder called Prader-Willi syndrome.</p><p>Aardvark said it expects to provide further updates on the drugs in the second quarter of 2026. </p>