Eli Lilly's Investigational Obesity Drug Shows Up To 20% Weight Loss In Phase 2 Study, Analyst Sees It As Emerging Cornerstone In Obesity Treatment

On Thursday, Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY) released data from a Phase 2 trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of eloralintide, an investigational once-weekly, selective amylin receptor agonist, in 263 obese adults with at least one obesity-related health issue and without type 2 diabetes.

At 48 weeks, all treatment arms of eloralintide met the primary endpoint, demonstrating superior mean weight reductions from 9.5% to 20.1% compared to 0.4% with placebo using the efficacy estimand.

In the trial, all doses of eloralintide delivered clinically meaningful improvements compared to placebo for the secondary endpoints of reductions in body weight and body mass index.

Treatment with eloralintide was also associated with improvements across cardiometabolic risk factors, including waist circumference, blood pressure, lipid profiles, glycemic control, and markers of inflammation. 

Also Read: Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk Make Weight-Loss Drugs More Affordable Via Medicare, Medicaid, TrumpRx

Analyst Take

“Overall, we believe the data offered strong validation that the amylin agonist class will emerge as an important cornerstone treatment for the management of chronic obesity, both as a monotherapy or in combination with other incretin drugs,” wrote William Blair, in an analyst note on Thursday.

Analyst Andy Hsieh noted that fatigue appears more common with eloralintide than with other incretin drugs (21% vs. 12%), which investors often overlook. Fatigue could significantly affect patients' quality of life, according to KOL feedback.

He highlighted that eloratide showed a directional decrease in pulse rate during the study — a distinction from incretin-based drugs like Novo Nordisk A/S‘ (NYSE:NVO) semaglutide, Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide, retatrutide, and orforglipron.

William Blair noted this could ease concerns about potential cardiovascular risks, including arrhythmias seen in trials of high-potency obesity treatments such as retatrutide.

Price Action: LLY stock is down 2.76% at $911.58 at the last check on Friday.

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