Move over, Mounjaro: New Eli Lilly drug lost patients 24 percent of their weight in trials

A new Eli Lilly experimental drug has helped patients lose 24 percent of their weight, according to new mid-stage clinical trial results. 

The results, released Monday, followed 338 adults, nearly 52 percent of whom were men, who were obese or overweight and had either received Eli Lilly’s retatrutide injection or a placebo treatment. 

Retatrutide is a weekly injection that changes the way patients eat, mimicking certain hormones in the gut and leading to the patient having a decreased appetite, according to CNBC. 

Retatrutide is comparable to Eli Lilly’s other obesity drug, Mounjaro. 

Mounjaro, which can also be used for Type 2 diabetes treatment, helped patients lose 21 percent of their body weight in a clinical trial, CNBC reported.   

The phase two trial saw patients who took a 12-milligram dose of retatrutide lose 17.5 percent of their weight after 24 weeks, compared with patients who lost 1.6 percent of their body weight in the placebo group. 

After 48 weeks, patients using retatrutide lost 24.2 percent of their body fat, and those who took a placebo lost 2.1 percent of their body weight.

In their conclusion, the trial researchers said that retatrutide treatment resulted in substantial reductions in body weight for those who took the medication. 

Retatrutide has three different hunger-regulating hormones: GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon. These hormones help with the drug being more potent in curbing a person’s appetite and satisfaction with food. 

Eli Lilly is currently recruiting patients for a phase three trial, CNBC reported.