Eli Lilly A popular weight-loss drug reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 94 percent in adults who were obese or overweight and prediabetic, compared with a placebo, preliminary results from a long-term study released Tuesday showed.
The late-stage trial of tirzepatide, the active ingredient in the company’s weight-loss injection Zepound and diabetes drug Mujaro, also found that patients saw sustained weight loss over the nearly three-year treatment period. Adults who took the highest weekly dose of the drug saw an average 22.9% reduction in body weight after 176 weeks, compared with 2.1% for those who received a placebo.
Shares of the pharmaceutical giant closed up about 3% on Tuesday.
The results suggest that Eli Lilly's treatment may significantly delay the potential diagnosis of people with prediabetes, or those who have blood sugar levels that are higher than normal but not high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes.
According to the latest government data, more than one in three Americans has prediabetes, which health experts say can be reversed with lifestyle changes like diet and exercise. People who are overweight or obese are at greater risk for prediabetes.
The new data also show potential long-term health benefits of taking an active class of obesity and diabetes drugs called GLP-1s, which mimic hormones produced in the gut to suppress appetite and regulate blood sugar. Like Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Mounjaro and injections from rival companies, Novo Nordisk The popularity of antiepileptic drugs has increased dramatically over the past two years, and companies have raced to study other clinical uses for their drugs.
“The results are another reminder of the huge investment that Lilly has made to prove that not only do you lose weight, but when you do that with this drug, it translates into health benefits,” Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks told CNBC. “This is our fourth study this year to do something like this,” he said, adding that tirzepatide has shown promise as a treatment for heart failure, sleep apnea and fatty liver disease in three other clinical trials.
Eli Lilly tested tirzepatide in more than 1,000 adults over 176 weeks in a phase 3 trial, followed by a 17-week period in which patients stopped treatment. According to the company, it is the longest completed study of the drug to date.
The drugmaker will submit the latest results to a peer-reviewed journal and present them at an upcoming medical conference in November. Eli Lilly published 72-week weight-loss results in a larger group of patients from the same trial, called SUMOUNT-1, in 2022.
Patients in the trial who stopped taking tirzepatide within 17 weeks began to regain weight and saw an increase in the development of diabetes. But those participants still had an 88% lower risk of developing diabetes than those on placebo, according to the latest Phase 3 results.
“With the medication, we can maintain a healthy body weight for three years and avoid diabetes,” Rex told CNBC. “When you stop taking the medication, a percentage of people start gaining weight and then… start progressing back toward diabetes.”
However, Rex noted that patients “don't go back to normal as if they had never taken the drug.”
Safety data for tirzepatide during the trial were consistent with previous studies of the drug, according to Eli Lilly. The most common side effects were gastrointestinal, such as diarrhea, nausea, constipation and vomiting, and were generally mild to moderate in severity.
Eli Lilly's Zepbound works by mimicking two natural hormones produced in the gut, GLP-1 and GIP.
GLP helps reduce food intake and appetite. GIP, which also works to suppress appetite, may also improve the way the body breaks down sugar and fat.
