Eli Lilly trial finds significant weight loss with retatrutide

Eli Lilly’s experimental drug retatrutide helped adults with type 2 diabetes and overweight or obesity lose substantial weight over 80 weeks in a Phase 3 trial, while also improving blood-sugar measures. The 1,152-person TRIUMPH2 study found average weight loss of 18.8% among participants assigned the highest, 12-milligram dose under the treatment-regimen analysis, compared with 5.1% for placebo. Using a different analysis, the 12-milligram group’s average loss was 20.8%, compared with 4% for placebo. The two estimates reflect different statistical methods applied to the same trial, rather than separate results. Retatrutide has not been approved and remains an investigational drug. The findings were presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting and published in The Lancet. For participants whose body mass index was at least 35, the average loss at 80 weeks was 21.9% under the treatment-regimen analysis and 23.4% under the efficacy analysis for those receiving 12 milligrams. Across the full study, average weight loss under the treatment-regimen analysis was 11.9% with 4 milligrams and 16.8% with 9 milligrams. Blood-sugar measures also improved.