A mid-stage trial of Eli Lilly’s next-generation obesity drug candidate “triple G” showed that it led to weight loss of up to 24.2 percent after 48 weeks, surpassing results seen with other weight loss drugs, the company said on Monday.
The once-weekly injected drug, retatrutide, is part of a class known as incretins designed to mimic the action of the glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) hormone, which helps regulate blood sugar, slow stomach emptying and decrease appetite. The new family of drugs has reignited interest in the weight-loss treatment market, which is estimated to reach US$100 billion by the end of the decade.
Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro, which is awaiting US regulatory approval for treatment of obesity, targets GLP-1 as well as a second obesity-related hormone called gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP).
Photo: AP
Retatrutide targets GLP-1, GIP and the body’s receptors for a third hormone, glucagon.
Given the three targets, Eli Lilly has nicknamed the drug triple G.
The company last year reported that a trial of Mounjaro in people who were obese or overweight found it led to weight loss of 22.5 percent after 72 weeks.
Eli Lilly said the 338-person retatrutide study also showed that the drug helped improve blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
It said that side effects were similar to those seen with other incretin-based therapies, including generally mild-to-moderate nausea and vomiting.
Eli Lilly is conducting longer-duration phase 3 trials of retatrutide to see if weight loss might be further improved.
Those studies would evaluate the drug’s safety and effectiveness for chronic weight management as well as obstructive sleep apnea and knee osteoarthritis.
“These phase 2 data have given us confidence to further explore the potential of retatrutide in phase 3 trials that will look beyond weight reduction and focus on treating obesity and its complications comprehensively,” Eli Lilly chief scientific and medical officer Dan Skovronsky said in a statement.
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