Eli Lilly Halts Diabetes Trial of Muscle-Protecting Drug in Combination with Zepbound

Intelligent Finance APP learned that pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly (LLY.US) has halted a study on an experimental drug designed to prevent excessive muscle loss in obese patients, citing strategic commercial considerations.

According to information updated on the U.S. Clinical Trials Registry late Wednesday, Eli Lilly and Company terminated the trial on June 10, less than a month after its initiation. The site shows that a similar study targeting non-diabetic obese patients remains active.

This experimental injectable solution isEli LillyCore product addressing common muscle loss in rapid weight loss patients. Other companies, including Roche Holdings, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and Veru, are also targeting the same point in an attempt to challenge Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk's leading position in the obesity treatment field.

These two clinical trials originally planned to use the new drug bimagrumab in combination with Eli Lilly's blockbuster drug Zepbound. In 2023, Eli Lilly committed to paying approximately $2 billion to acquire startup company Versanis Bio, thereby gaining access to bimagrumab.

The trial, which has been terminated, originally planned to follow up with 180 patients with type 2 diabetes who were obese or overweight for approximately 13 months. The primary endpoint was the degree of weight loss, while the key secondary endpoint was the reduction in body fat.

In Eli Lilly's second-quarter earnings presentation released in August, the company had projected that results from this diabetes trial would be available by October 2026.

In a study announced in late June that was considered a proof-of-concept for bimagrumab, Eli Lilly and Company stated that the drug could help patients maintain muscle mass while losing weight with Novo Nordisk's competitor drug, Wegovy.

The compound is designed to block a receptor that normally regulates muscle growth, and its original developer, Novartis, tested it in diabetic patients about eight years ago in a small study. In the early research by Novartis, one of the 37 patients treated with bimagrumab developed pancreatitis and was hospitalized. Some studies suggest that diabetic patients may face an increased risk of pancreatitis.