By Christy Santhosh
March 19 (Reuters) – Eli Lilly’s next-generation obesity drug showed a significant reduction in blood sugar levels and weight in a late-stage trial, the company said on Thursday, as it looks to widen its lead in the heavily contested market for GLP-1 drugs.
Drug developers are racing to enter the highly competitive and booming obesity market dominated by injectable drugs such as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Lilly’s Zepbound, prompting heavy investment in next-generation treatments that could deliver faster, deeper, or more durable weight loss.
Lilly tested the drug, retatrutide, in patients with type 2 diabetes who had inadequate glycemic control with diet and exercise alone and a mean duration of diabetes of two and a half years.
During the 40-week trial, retatrutide reduced A1C, a measure of blood sugar over time, by an average of 1.7% to 2.0% across doses compared to an average reduction of 0.8% in the placebo group.
For a key secondary goal, patients who took the drug lost up to an average of 15.3% of their weight including intercurrent events like discontinuations.
The weight loss continued until the end of the treatment period, the company said.
“Retatrutide delivers the highest levels of weight loss we’ve seen from an obesity drug to date,” said Scotiabank analyst Louise Chen, calling it an impressive weight loss profile in a patient group that tends to lose less weight than the general population.
Lilly’s experimental weight-loss pill, orforglipron, reduced weight by an average of 7.9%, while its diabetes drug, tirzepatide, showed an average weight loss of 13.1% in separate late-stage trials spanning 40 weeks.
In the highest‑dose group, 26.5% of participants reported nausea, 22.8% diarrhea and 17.6% vomiting, all much higher than those seen in the placebo group.
The side effects seen in the study were consistent with patterns seen across GLP‑1 drug trials, the company said.
However, J.P. Morgan analysts noted that the incidence of side effects was higher than that seen with Lilly’s diabetes drug, Mounjaro, in a similar trial, partly offsetting the efficacy.
In a previous trial, retatrutide helped patients lose an average of 28.7% of their weight, outperforming Lilly’s blockbuster drug, Zepbound.
RBC Capital Markets analysts anticipate a 2027 launch for the drug, with annual sales of about $4.9 billion in 2030.
Retatrutide is a once-weekly injected drug that activates three hormone receptors – GLP-1, GIP and glucagon – earning it the nickname “triple-G”. Triple-G weight-loss drugs are expected to produce greater weight loss than earlier generations by combining appetite suppression, blood sugar control and increased calorie burning.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
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