Lilly's retatrutide outshines Ozempic on weight loss, blood sugar control in trial

Oct 28 — Eli Lilly said on Wednesday its experimental next-generation obesity drug, retatrutide, outperformed Novo ​Nordisk's Ozempic on blood sugar control and delivered more than double the weight loss in a diabetes study.

The data further strengthens the competitive profile of ‌retatrutide, which is widely expected to fuel Lilly's next wave of growth following the success of its Zepbound ⁠and Mounjaro.

In previous studies, the drug ​has already shown bariatric-surgery level of weight ⁠loss in patients with obesity, likely positioning it to be the most powerful drug ‌in the booming market.

Commonly ‌nicknamed "triple-G", the once-weekly retatrutide activates GLP-1, GIP and glucagon hormone receptors.

Triple-G drugs ⁠are expected to deliver greater weight loss than ⁠earlier generations by combining appetite suppression, blood sugar control and increased calorie burning.

The head-to-head trial compared 9 mg and 12 mg doses of retatrutide with a 2 mg dose of Novo's diabetes drug Ozempic. Lilly said the trial used the 2 mg dose as a comparator since it is the highest approved ‌dose available.

Both doses of retatrutide lowered A1C, a measure ​of blood sugar over time, by an average of 2.2% compared with Ozempic's 1.8% at 80 weeks in the late-stage trial.

Those taking the higher dose of retatrutide lost 20.9% of their weight compared with 9.4% on Ozempic.

"Overall, the data reaffirm retatrutide's differentiated efficacy across weight and glycemic control, strengthening its position as a key long-term cardiometabolic growth driver," said Citi analyst Geoffrey Meacham.

Retatrutide also delivered greater improvements ​than Ozempic across certain cardiovascular risk factors.

The most common side effects with retatrutide were, however, gastrointestinal ‌issues such as ‌nausea, vomiting ⁠and diarrhea. About 7.9% of patients receiving the highest dose of retatrutide stopped treatment, versus 2.7% in the Ozempic arm.

Lilly plans to seek approval for retatrutide in the US next year. It will present detailed results from the study at a future medical ‌meeting.

In another key late-stage study, ​Lilly is testing retatrutide against tirzepatide, the active ‌ingredient in Zepbound, among ⁠adults with obesity ​with or without type 2 diabetes.

(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and ​Shinjini Ganguli)

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