Eli Lilly is entering a market valued at $30 billion, can it beat the competition?

Eli Lilly, a manufacturer of weight loss drugs, has tested a product that, in combination with products from its direct competitor, Novo Nordisk, helped preserve muscle during weight loss. In this way, the company solved a long-standing problem: in therapy, patients were losing not only fat tissue, but also muscle tissue. Analysts estimate the market for muscle preservation drugs at $30 billion, but note that there will be high competition.

Patients who took the experimental drug from Eli Lilly bimagrumab (bimagrumab) in combination with Wegovy from Novo Nordisk were able to maintain muscle mass while losing weight. This was reported by Bloomberg, citing the results of a study presented June 23 at a conference in Chicago. Participants in this study lost an average of 22% of their body weight over 48 weeks. At the same time, 93% of the loss was in adipose tissue. In comparison, patients taking Wegovy alone lost almost 16% of their weight, of which only 72% was fat. This means that without bimagrumab, the loss of muscle mass was significantly higher.

The findings could be a solution to one of the major problems with popular injections for obese people, explains Bloomberg. Rapid weight loss - whether through medication or bariatric surgery - is often accompanied by a loss of muscle mass. This is a concern for medical professionals, especially in the case of patients over the age of 65, the agency writes.

«This is exactly the result we were hoping for,» said Louis Aron - study leader and director of the Center for Comprehensive Weight Management at Weill Cornell Medical College.

The trial was funded by Eli Lilly, which purchased bimagrumab in 2023 for about $2 billion from startup Versanis Bio. Lilly is now conducting additional studies of the drug already in combination with its own obesity drug, Zepbound, Bloomberg noted.

Shares of Eli Lilly at the end of trading on June 23 rose by 1%. On Monday, the securities were influenced not only by the news about successful research, but also by the failure of a competitor.

Trials of Novo Nordisk's new weight loss drug CagriSema showed no clear benefits over Eli Lilly's Zepbound, reports CNBC. This disappointed investors, with Novo's U.S. receipts plunging 5.49%.

Analysts predict the market for weight loss drugs could reach $150 billion a year by the early 2030s, wrote Reuters. At the same time, as such drugs become more common, the need for muscle preservation products will also grow, accounted TD Cowen analyst Tyler Van Buren. He estimates the size of this market to be worth $30 billion in revenue by 2035.

Some dozen companies are now developing such drugs, notes Reuters. Most are being tested in combination with Eli Lilly's Zepbound or Novo Nordisk's Wegovy.

However, not everything is smooth sailing yet. Combining multiple drugs can carry additional side effects, raising concerns among some doctors, noted Bloomberg. For example, the pharma company Regeneron reported that combining Wegovy with two other experimental drugs led to even greater weight loss while preserving muscle in participants in its study. But about 28% of patients dropped out of the study early, and two people who received the drugs died. The company said it «did not identify a causal relationship» between the treatment and the deaths. Despite this, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts called the results of the study «alarming».

- US-based Regeneron is testing the development of anxigrumab, a drug in the same class as Eli Lilly's bimagrumab. The study is expected to be completed in 2025.

- Developer Scholar Rock is investigating the drug apitegromab in combination with Eli Lilly's Zepbound. According to preliminary data, this combination helped preserve muscle mass better compared to taking Zepbound alone.

- Swiss Roche began a study of the drug RG6237 last year. In 2025, the company plans to start a trial combining RG6237 with its own weight loss drug CT-388, which is not yet approved.

- Biohaven is testing the drug taldefgrobep-alpha. In an early study, it showed no effect in treating spinal muscular atrophy, but helped reduce fat mass and improved muscle and bone density compared to placebo. Biohaven intends to move quickly to the next phase of clinical trials in obese patients.

- Keros Pharmaceuticals is developing the drug KER-065. In preclinical trials in mice, the drug increased muscle mass and reduced fat mass both by itself and in combination with semaglutide (the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic). Safety data on the drug in obese men are expected in the first quarter of 2025.

- Northstrive, a unit of PMGC Holdings, acquired two drugs, EL-22 and EL-32, from South Korea's MOA Life Plus last year. Northstrive plans to get FDA approval to begin clinical trials in humans in combination with the weight-loss drugs as early as this year.

- Veru is developing the oral drug enobosarm. In a mid-phase study, adding the drug to Wegovy reduced muscle mass loss by 71% compared to Wegovy combined with placebo. The next study will focus on the drug's effect on muscle strength in patients over 60 years of age.

- Canada's 35Pharma plans to test the safety of HS235 in early phase clinical trials. Data are expected in the second half of 2025.

- Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals is developing two RNAi drugs against obesity, ARO-INHBE and ARO-ALK7. They interfere with signaling pathways that promote fat storage. In 2025, Arrowhead plans to begin trials of ARO-INHBE either alone or in combination with tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Lilly's Zepbound and Mounjaro.

- In May 2024, AstraZeneca struck a deal worth up to $80 million with Swiss startup SixPeaks Bio to develop a drug to preserve muscle mass in patients in therapy. AstraZeneca has been granted the exclusive right to buy the startup in the future.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor