Key Takeaways
- A three-year study of tirzepatide—the active ingredient in Eli Lilly’s injectable weight-loss drug Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro—showed a 94% reduction in type 2 diabetes progression risk compared to a placebo.
- Patients who received tirzepatide lost 22.9% of their body weight on average, compared with 2.1% for patients who received a placebo.
- Eli Lilly shares jumped to an all-time high on Tuesday, bringing their year-to-date return to more than 60%.
Eli Lilly (LLY) stock jumped to a record high on Tuesday after clinical trial results showed tirzepatide—the active ingredient in Lilly’s injectable weight-loss drug Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro—lowered patients’ risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 94%.
The three-year study of patients with prediabetes and either obesity or overweight also found that those who received tirzepatide lost 22.9% of their body weight on average, compared with 2.1% for patients treated with a placebo.
“Obesity is a chronic disease that puts nearly 900 million adults worldwide at an increased risk of other complications such as type 2 diabetes,” said Jeff Emmick, senior vice president of product development at Lilly.
Zepbound, Mounjaro Sales Soaring
The study adds to the growing list of benefits offered by tirzepatide and other GLP-1 receptor agonists, including reducing the risk of heart failure and treating sleep apnea.
Earlier this month, Eli Lilly reported Mounjaro sales more than tripled year-over-year to $3.09 billion in the second quarter. Zepbound sales exceeded $1 billion in just its second full quarter since being approved by the Food and Drug Administration in November.
TradingView
Shares of Eli Lilly jumped 5% to an all-time high of $967 Tuesday morning, before paring gains to trade about 3% higher recently. The stock has risen more than 60% this year compared with a 17% gain for the S&P 500.