Eli Lilly’s next-generation obesity drug led to what appears to be the most weight loss seen so far in a late-stage trial, but rates of side effects were high and many participants discontinued the treatment, including people who felt they were losing too much weight.
In a 68-week Phase 3 study of patients with obesity and knee osteoarthritis, those who took the highest dose and stayed on the drug, called retatrutide, lost 28.7% of their weight. When analyzing all treated participants, including those who discontinued, the efficacy was 23.7%, Lilly said Thursday.
Among the cohorts of treated patients, discontinuation rates due to adverse events ranged from 12% to 18%, compared with 4% in the placebo group. Lilly said the rates correlated with participants’ body mass index at the start of the trial and that some people stopped using the drug “for perceived excessive weight loss.”
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