Feb 18 (Reuters) - Eli Lilly ( LLY ) said on Wednesday

its weight-loss drug, Zepbound, used with psoriasis treatment

Taltz, showed better results in patients with the skin ​disease

and obesity in a late-stage study, ‌compared to Taltz alone.

The drugs showed greater improvement in skin ⁠symptoms and

weight loss in the study that had ⁠274 patients. About 27.1% of

patients who ‌had received Taltz ‌and Zepbound reached complete

skin clearance and at least 10% weight ​loss, compared to 5.8% of

patients ‌treated with Taltz alone at 36 weeks, meeting the main

goal.

Psoriasis is a chronic ​condition that causes itchy, ​scaly

patches on ‌the skin.

Nearly all trial participants had psoriasis affecting

sensitive areas such as the face, scalp or genitals, ⁠which are

typically hard to treat, Lilly said.

In ⁠the U.S., about 61% of people with psoriasis also have

obesity or are overweight with at least one weight-related

co-morbidity, Lilly said.

Adverse events during the study ⁠were ‌generally mild to

moderate, Lilly said, adding ‌that detailed results from the

trial will be published in ⁠a peer-reviewed journal and discussed

with regulators.

In another late-stage study, 31.7% of patients who received

Taltz plus Zepbound met the main goal of the study of at least a

50% reduction in psoriatic arthritis disease activity and at

least 10% ​weight loss after 36 weeks. That compared with 0.8% of

patients who took Taltz alone and met ​the same combined outcome.