Drug maker Eli Lilly said on Thursday that an experimental obesity injection helped patients lose 26% of their body weight in clinical-trial treatments.
The dramatic drop came after intensive lifestyle changes and continued treatment before obese patients stopped taking the drug, known as Mounjaro or tirzepatide, Reuters reported.
Patients with type 2 diabetes did not participate in the trial.
Eli Lilly hopes the data establishes the company as a competitor to Novo Nordisk in the weight-loss drug market. Novo Nordisk is the Dutch manufacturer of Ozempic and Wegovy.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month received an application from Eli Lilly to approve the injection for chronic weight management.
Tirzepatide is already sold under the name Mounjaro for the treatment of diabetes.
The FDA added Mounjaro to its shortage list of medicines this month.
Supplies of Mounjaro at the 10mg dose are expected to be tight through September 2023, Fierce Pharma reported. Issues with other dosages should be resolved by this weekend, the FDA said.
Experts told NBC News that tirzepatide could become the best-selling drug of all time if approved for weight loss. The question is the cost. Wegovy costs about $1,500 per month.
A “fair” price for tirzepatide could be around $1,100 a month, Dr. David Rind, the chief medical officer for the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, told NBC News.
Eli Lilly has another drug in the trial stages called retatrutide. Patients in early tests have lost up to 24% of their body weight. It could be available as early as 2025.
Dr. Shauna Levy, a specialist in obesity medicine and the medical director of the Tulane Bariatric Center in New Orleans, said the results were “mind-blowing.” She said the injection seems to deliver nearly the same results as bariatric surgery.
“It’s certainly knocking on the door or getting close,” she told NBC News.
An estimated 40% of U.S. adults are obese, the Centers for Disease Control says.