Lilly's triple-G drug retatrutide beats Novo's Ozempic in diabetes trial

· Health · United States · Denmark

Eli Lilly said its investigational drug retatrutide was more effective than Novo Nordisk's Ozempic at lowering blood sugar and cutting weight in a large head-to-head diabetes study. The highest dose of the triple-G incretin shot beat Ozempic on both measures, but was associated with higher rates of side effects and treatment discontinuations. Retatrutide had already shown strong results against other drugs on a cross-trial basis; this is its first head-to-head win, though in diabetes rather than obesity. The data add to expectations that retatrutide will become one of Lilly's biggest growth drivers and intensify the competition between the two companies in the fast-growing incretin market, where Ozempic is the incumbent standard.

Why it matters：A head-to-head win over the market's incumbent injectable resets expectations for the multibillion-dollar diabetes and obesity drug class and forces rivals to respond on efficacy and tolerability.

Key points

  • Retatrutide's highest dose beat Ozempic on both blood sugar and weight loss.
  • Higher side effect rates and more treatment discontinuations were seen with retatrutide.
  • The trial was in diabetes, not obesity, where Lilly's drug is also being developed.

Sources (original reporting)

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