Eli Lilly's new drug has helped you lose almost 30% of your weight. It's her weapon of choice against Ozempic

Eli Lilly's new obesity drug helped patients lose up to 29% of their body weight in a late-stage clinical trial - a result that beat the performance of its already hit drug Zepbound. It plays a key role in the company's quest to maintain an edge over its main competitor Novo Nordisk in the fast-growing obesity and diabetes market.

A new-generation drug from US pharma company Eli Lilly & Co. called retatrutide helped patients lose weight by an average of 23.7% over 68 weeks if all participants in the trial, including those who stopped treatment, were included. If only those who made it to the end of the trial - effectively a "best-case scenario" - were analyzed, the average weight loss was 28.7%. This effect was another boost to Eli Lilly's rapidly growing obesity treatment business, the Financial Times reports.

Researchers also measured pain levels in trial participants with osteoarthritis of the knee, a condition associated with cartilage breakdown. The average pain reduction reached 62.6%, and one in eight participants were completely pain-free by the end of the study, according to Eli Lilly.

According to Bloomberg, Wall Street expected weight loss from retatrutide in the 20-23% range and pain reduction of at least 50%. But the trial results exceeded predictions: some patients lost so much weight that they stopped participating in the study early.

"The results emphasize the powerful effects of retatrutide. We believe it may be an important option for patients who require significant weight loss, especially in the presence of complications such as osteoarthritis of the knee," said Kenneth Custer, executive vice president of Eli Lilly.

This is the first data from a late-stage study, and it shows that retatrutide works differently than existing weight-loss drugs and is likely superior to them in terms of efficacy, CNBC points out. Eli Lilly sees retatrutide as the next strategic product after Zepbound. The injection, nicknamed "Triple G," is administered once a week and mimics the work of three appetite-regulating hormones: GLP-1, GIP and glucagon. CNBC emphasizes that it provides a more powerful effect on appetite and satiety than drugs based on a single GLP-1 hormone.

However, about 18% of patients on the maximum dose of retatrutide discontinued treatment due to side effects (4% in the placebo group). Lilly explained that the high dropout rate was "strongly associated" with baseline body mass index (BMI) and included cases of discontinuation because patients thought they were losing too much weight. The company also said that seven more late-stage studies of retatrutide in obesity and type 2 diabetes will conclude in 2026.

Retatrutide is central to Eli Lilly's quest to maintain its lead over chief rival Novo Nordisk in the fast-growing market for obesity and diabetes drugs, CNBC notes. That market could reach $100 billion by 2030, Bloomberg writes. The market is expanding aggressively thanks to strong sales of GLP-1-based products, including Lilly and Wegovy's Zepbound or Novo Nordisk's Ozempic. This is encouraging manufacturers to invest in next-generation drugs that can deliver faster, deeper and more sustained weight loss, Reuters writes.

Zepbound is already the most popular weight loss product, but Eli Lilly is committed to creating drugs that are even more effective and safer, emphasizes the Financial Times.

Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk is trying to catch up with its competitor: CNBC reports that in March the company agreed to pay up to $2 billion for the rights to an early experimental drug from China's United Laboratories International. It is also based on the action of three hormones at once, but is at a much earlier stage of development, and it may take several more years before it reaches patients.

Shares of Eli Lilly, which in November became the first pharmaceutical company with a capitalization of $1 trillion amid record demand for obesity drugs, rose 2% after the opening of trading on December 11. The securities have added nearly 30% since the start of 2025, outpacing the S&P 500's 17% gain. Shares of Novo, traded in Copenhagen, temporarily fell after Lilly's announcement, but soon recovered and were up 3% at the time of writing.

Bloomberg reminds us that the stakes for next-generation drugs are extremely high: in 2024, Novo's stock plummeted to a record crash after an experimental injection of CagriSema showed an average weight loss of 20.4% in trials - less than the 25% promised by the manufacturer.

According to MarketWatch, analysts are mostly positive about Eli Lilly shares. The majority (23) advise to buy the securities, another seven - to hold and only one believes that their assessment is below the market.

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