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Drug shows weight reduction from 9.5% to up to 20.1%

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Lilly plans to start late-stage trials by year end

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Eloralintide mimics the pancreatic hormone amylin

(Recasts paragraph 1, adds share movement in paragraphs 2 and

5, background in 13)

Nov 6 (Reuters) - Eli Lilly ( LLY ) said on Thursday it

will start late-stage trials of its experimental obesity drug

next month after it helped patients lose as much as 20.1% of

their weight in a mid-stage trial.

The drugmaker's shares rose nearly 2% in premarket trading.

The first wave of obesity drugs, which dominate the market,

has mainly focused 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 with their next generation

of drugs.

The experimental once-weekly drug, eloralintide, belongs to

the class of drugs that mimic the pancreatic hormone amylin

which slows digestion and suppresses hunger.

Large drugmakers such as Roche and AbbVie ( ABBV )

have signed deals to access experimental amylin drugs. Zealand

Pharma, whose shares traded down 9.5% at 1216 GMT, is

testing its rival experimental drug, petrelintide, in

collaboration with partner Roche.

In an early-stage trial Lilly's drug helped some patients

lose more than 11% of their body weight at 12 weeks.

In the mid-stage trial, patients on 1 mg dose of

eloralintide lost 9.5% or 10.2 kilograms and 20.1% or 21.3 kgs

at the highest 9 mg dose. This compares to 0.2 kg weight loss

seen in patients on placebo at 48 weeks.

The study enrolled 263 adults who were overweight with at

least one obesity-related comorbidity and without type 2

diabetes.

Lilly's drug also showed improvement across factors like

waist circumference, blood pressure, lipid profiles, glycemic

control, and markers of inflammation.

The most common side effects were mild to moderate

gastrointestinal symptoms and fatigue, which were seen more

frequently at higher doses. Patients in groups that gradually

increased doses of the drug saw lower side effects.

The data shows eloralintide offers the potential for strong

efficacy with improved tolerability and could serve as an

alternative to incretin therapies, said Kenneth

Custer, president of Lilly Cardiometabolic Health.

The drug is also being studied as a standalone treatment and

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

sold as Zepbound, in mid-stage trials.

Eli Lilly ( LLY ) and Danish rival Novo Nordisk are also

awaiting a potential White House deal that would reduce prices

of their blockbuster weight-loss treatments in return for

expanded market access.