London: Eli Lilly’s weight-loss drug cut the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 94 per cent in pre-diabetic adults who were overweight or obese after three years of weekly injections, the company disclosed in a statement on Tuesday.
The Indianapolis, Indiana-based company said the data comes from the longest completed trial of the drug, and reinforces the long-term benefits of tirzepatide – the chemical name of its Zepbound and Mounjaro treatments.
“We just don’t see numbers like this in metabolic space,” said BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman. He added that Novo’s drug had also showed a 73 per cent risk reduction after three years in a separate late-stage trial.
Both Eli Lilly and rival Novo Nordisk have been pushing to extend the use of their obesity drugs to related conditions, which would help expand the patient pool and gain wider insurance coverage.
Shares of Eli Lilly rose 2.2 per cent to $942 in premarket trading.
Lilly’s data comes amid concerns that patients reduce the use of weight-loss drugs over time.
Reuters reported in July that only one in four U.S. patients prescribed Novo’s Wegovy or Ozempic for weight loss two years ago were still taking the popular medications.
Early results from its late-stage trial, “SURMOUNT-1”, were initially disclosed in 2022. The data at that time, which showed the drug helped significantly cut weight in obese patients, helped it secure U.S. regulatory approval.
In the trial involving 1,032 adults, patients who received weekly injections showed a 94 per cent reduction in the risk of progression to type 2 diabetes compared to placebo.
Treatment with the highest dose of tirzepatide resulted in an average weight reduction of 22.9 per cent , compared to just 2.1 per cent for the placebo, Lilly said.
(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Tasim Zahid)
