June 13 (Reuters) - Eli Lilly's ( LLY ) experimental

obesity drug, eloralintide, helped some patients lose 11.5% of

their body weight at 12 weeks in an early-stage study, an

investor note by brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald showed on Friday.

The 12-week result was published in an abstract ahead of the

American Diabetes Association conference in Chicago, the

brokerage said.

Cantor analyst Prakhar Agrawal said the data on eloralintide

looked strong in terms of weight loss and safety, adding that

expectations for the drug had been low.

The drug belongs to a class of medicines that mimic the

pancreatic hormone amylin, which is co-secreted with insulin.

Amylin slows digestion and suppresses hunger.

Mid-stage trials are ongoing, both as a standalone treatment

and in combination with Lilly's blockbuster GLP-1 drug,

tirzepatide, sold as Zepbound.

The first wave of obesity drugs focused mainly on the gut

hormone GLP-1, but drugmakers are now looking for medicines that

target other hormones or help preserve muscle mass during

fat-loss for their next generation of drugs.

We think the data today is a sign that the real successor to

tirzepatide is the tirzepatide-eloralintide combo, said

Jefferies analyst Akash Tewari.

In March, Roche acquired the rights to Zealand

Pharma's long-acting amylin analogue, petrelintide, in a

collaboration valued at up to $5.3 billion.

Similarly, Novo Nordisk is banking on a dual mode

of action involving amylin for its next generation of drugs,

with experimental compounds called amycretin and CagriSema,

while AstraZeneca ( AZN ) has an amylin-based obesity drug in

early trials.

Lilly's eloralintide weight-loss data is tracking better

than Roche and Zealand's petrelintide, said Agrawal, adding the

data is meaningfully better than Novo's monotherapy.

Data at 12 weeks is also competitive compared to other drug

classes such as GLP-1, Agrawal also said.

Eli Lilly ( LLY ) did not immediately respond to a Reuters request

for comment.