An Eli Lilly Zepbound injection pen is seen in Brooklyn, New York City, USA, Thursday, March 28, 2024.
Shelby Knowles | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Eli Lilly A highly popular weight-loss drug reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in obese or overweight adults with prediabetes by 94 percent compared with a placebo, according to early results of a long-term study published Tuesday.
Late-stage clinical trials of tirzepatide, the active ingredient in the company’s weight-loss injectable Zepbound and diabetes drug Maunjaro, also found that patients experienced sustained weight loss over roughly three years of treatment. Adults taking the highest weekly dose of the drug lost an average of 22.9% of their body weight after 176 weeks, compared with a 2.1% loss in patients taking a placebo.
The results suggest that Lilly’s treatment may be able to significantly delay a potential diagnosis in people with prediabetes — those whose blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes.
More than one in three Americans has prediabetes, according to the latest government data, but health experts say it can be reversed with lifestyle changes like diet and exercise. People who are overweight or obese are at higher risk for developing prediabetes.
The new data also points to possible long-term health benefits from taking a hot obesity and diabetes drug called GLP-1, which mimics a hormone produced in the gut to suppress appetite and regulate blood sugar levels. Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Maunjaro, as well as rival injectables, Novo Nordisk Its popularity has surged over the past two years, sending pharmaceutical companies racing to research other clinical uses for their drugs.
“Obesity is a chronic disease that puts nearly 900 million adults worldwide at risk for complications including type 2 diabetes,” Dr. Jeff Emmick, senior vice president of product development at Eli Lilly, said in a statement. “These data support the potential clinical benefit of long-term treatment for patients with obesity and prediabetes.”
Eli Lilly tested tirzepatide in more than 1,000 adults in a Phase 3 trial for 176 weeks, after which patients took the treatment off for 17 weeks, the longest completed study to date for the drug, the company said.
The company has submitted its latest results to a peer-reviewed journal and plans to present them at a medical conference in November. In 2022, Eli Lilly published 72-week weight loss results from a larger group of patients in the same trial, called SUMOUNT-1.
Although trial patients who stopped taking tirzepatide for 17 weeks began to regain weight and experience increased diabetes progression, the latest Phase 3 results showed that these participants had an 88% lower risk of developing diabetes compared with those taking a placebo.
According to Eli Lilly, safety data for investigational tirzepatide was consistent with previous studies of the drug. The most common side effects were gastrointestinal, including diarrhea, nausea, constipation and vomiting, and were generally mild to moderate in severity.
Eli Lilly’s Zepbound works by mimicking two naturally produced gut hormones called GLP-1 and GIP.
GLP helps reduce food intake and appetite. GIP, which also suppresses appetite, may also improve the breakdown of sugar and fat in the body.