Lilly Moves Obesity Drug to Late-Stage Trials After It Shows Promise
Eli Lilly said on Thursday it will start late-stage trials of its experimental drug next month after it helped patients lose as much as 20.1% of their weight in a mid-stage study, giving the company another upper-hand in the fast- growing obesity market.
The first wave of obesity drugs, which dominate the market, has mainly focused on the gut hormone GLP-1, but drugmakers are now looking to target other hormones or help preserve muscle mass during fat-loss with their next generation of treatments.
Lilly’s experimental once-weekly, eloralintide, belongs to the class of drugs that mimic the pancreatic hormone amylin which slows digestion and suppresses hunger.
Unlike Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, both GLP-1s, eloralintide activates amylin receptors in the brain and slows gastric emptying with the potential of less severe side effects. Amylin-based drugs have attracted interest from larger drugmakers including Roche, AbbVie and AstraZeneca.
