Eli Lilly shares lose after negative obesity drug test results 🔎

Eli Lilly's (LLY.US) shares dip over 4.00% following a study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that patients who stopped using the company’s obesity drug, tirzepatide (marketed as Zepbound), regained weight. The drug initially led to a significant average weight reduction of 20.0% over 36 weeks of therapy. However, those who switched to a placebo after this period saw a 14% weight gain over the following 52 weeks. In contrast, patients who continued the treatment experienced an additional 5.5% weight loss. This peer-reviewed study, which enrolled 670 adults without diabetes but with obesity or overweight, was sponsored by Eli Lilly. The authors of the study acknowledged its limitations, including not adjusting doses post-randomization and not considering the impact of behavioral therapy on maintaining weight reduction.

In a similar vein, a study funded by Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly's competitor in the weight loss sector, showed that patients using their weight loss drug, semaglutide, regained two-thirds of their lost weight a year after stopping the treatment.

Following an unfavorable report, Eli Lilly's shares are losing over 4.00% today. The stock prices are falling below the lower boundary of the upward channel in which the shares have remained since the beginning of this year. Source: xStation 5