Zepbound outperforms Wegovy for weight loss in Eli Lilly study

Shares of Eli Lilly rose on Wednesday after the drugmaker released a study showing its blockbuster weight-loss drug Zepbound helped patients shed more pounds than rival Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy.

Lilly said patients taking Zepbound lost about 20% of their weight on average, compared to nearly 14% for Wegovy. The drugmaker also said more patients who took Zepbound achieved weight loss of at least 25%.

The study results should help Zepbound gain more and more market share, said David Risinger, an analyst at Leerink Partners, in a research note.

The drug brought Lilly $1.3 billion in sales in the third quarter of this year, less than a year after it hit the market.

The study monitored 751 people from the United States and Puerto Rico who had taken the maximum tolerated dose of Zepbound or Wegovy for more than a year.

The results confirm what separate studies for each drug had already shown. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Zepbound last year after the drug helped people lose up to 40 to 60 pounds (18 to 27 kilograms) in tests.

Studies of Wegovy showed that the drug helped people lose about 34 pounds (15 kilograms), or about 15% of their weight. Regulators approved Wegovy in 2021.

Both medications are different versions of the diabetes medications Mounjaro and Ozempic from Lilly and Novo, respectively.

Shares of Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. rose nearly 2.4%, or about $19, to $833.21 on Wednesday. The shares of the Danish Novo Nordisk traded in the USA also rose slightly.

According to FactSet, Lilly shares hit an all-time high of $972.53 in August.