A next-generation weight-loss drug from Eli Lilly, when combined with Zepbound, helped people lose substantially more weight than Zepbound alone, according to a new study. The experimental injection, eloralintide, which mimics a hormone called amylin that helps signal fullness after eating, was studied in combination with a Zepbound shot in patients with Type 2 diabetes. Patients on the highest dose of the combination lost an average of 23.3% of their body weight over roughly 11 months while those on Zepbound alone lost an average of 14.8% of their weight.
"This will be a turning point for the field," said Dan Skovronsky, Lilly's chief scientific officer. "I think this combination will be the most tolerable therapy that we've developed yet for the degree of weight loss that we expect to achieve."
A significant number of patients in the 367-person study quit, Lilly's data show. Between 11% and 27% of patients on the drug combination dropped out due to side effects. The most common side effects were gastrointestinal-related and were mild to moderate. Skovronsky said the high dropout rate was partly due to patients switching to higher doses more quickly than they ordinarily would because of the compressed study timeline.
Dr. Nidhi Kansal, an obesity-medicine doctor at Northwestern Medicine who wasn't involved in the research, said that amylin works similarly to GLP-1 by slowing stomach emptying and can therefore still come with similar side effects.
Source: Wall Street Journal US Business · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing