Leading pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly has revealed transformational data from a significant Phase III trial of its next-generation obesity drug retatrutide. This moves Lilly further into position to gain regulatory approval for the medication and could redefine the global obesity market.
The 2,500 patient trial, known as TRIUMPH-1 and taking place in patients with obesity, revealed that the highest dose of the once-weekly injectable drug helped patients reduce their body weight by an average of 28.3%-or about 70lbs- over 80 weeks. At the two year mark patients were found to have lost an average of 85 lbs or 30.3% of their body weight. Crucially nearly half of patients on the highest dose lost 30% or more of their weight. Previous to this such loss had only typically been seen in patients receiving bariatric surgery.
The difference between retatrutide and other available obesity medications can be found in the way the drug works. While Ozempic and Wegovy are single receptor targeting hormones other available obesity drugs target only one hormone receptor but retatrutide is a triple agonist which targets GLP-1, GIP and glucagon hormone receptors, thereby increasing appetite, promoting insulin secretion and burning fat, far more than its competitors.
“We do seem to be raising the bar on peak weight loss,” comments Ken Custer, executive vice president at Lilly Cardiometabolic Health. The trial suggests that current beliefs regarding the limit of drug mediated weight loss are too conservative and should solidify Lilly’s position at the forefront of the obesity treatment market, a market that could be worth $150bn globally by 2035, according to Morgan Stanley.
Nausea and stomach related adverse events are reported to be in line with other treatments, although several analysts are now interested in the tolerability of the drug data, as it approaches its submission for regulatory approval.
