Eli Lilly shares uptick after drug helped patients lose more weight than competitors

Key Points

Eli Lilly said a trial showed its weight-loss drug retatrutide helped patients lose significant weight more than other drugs like Novo Nordisk's Ozempic.
L& #39;lead author said the “therapeutic landscape”; for potential treatments for obesity is growing rapidly.
Eli Lilly's shares hit a 52-week high Tuesday morning following the news.

Eli Lilly (LLY) became the latest manufacturer to announce a potential breakthrough in the treatment of weight loss, saying patients in a Phase 2 trial of its experimental diabetes and obesity drug experienced significant weight loss.

The company reported that the once-weekly injectable treatment retatrutide helped participants with diabetes or overweight without diabetes lose an average of 17.5% (or 41.2 pounds) at 24 weeks and 24.2% (or 57.8 pounds) at 48 weeks. That's more than other weight-loss drugs like Novo Nordisk's Ozempic, which has helped patients lose an average of 15%.

Dr. Ania Jastreboff, weight management specialist at Yale School of Medicine and lead author of the study, noted that the patients had not reached their weight plateau prior to the study, and “it appears that full weight reduction efficacy has not yet been achieved.” She added that longer phase 3 trials will allow for a more complete evaluation of the efficacy of the retatrutide.

Lilly is part of several pharmaceutical companies with treatments promising to find safe and effective drugs to help people lose weight. Jastreboff said “we are now in the midst of a rapidly expanding therapeutic landscape of highly effective potential treatment options for people with obesity.”