Editor’s note: This article was updated at 9a ET with comment from Lilly.
- Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) has put the brakes on a phase 2a study examining bimagrumab, a drug to prevent muscle wasting, a common issue with quick weight loss, in combination with its obesity drug Zepbound (tirzepatide).
- A notice on the study’s clinicaltrials.gov page states it was ended for “strategic business reasons.”
- The trial was testing the combination of the drugs with bimagrumab alone in lowering body weight in obese patients with type 2 diabetes. However, another trial in obese patients without diabetes is ongoing.
- Bimagrumab, a monoclonal antibody, works by inhibiting the activin receptor type-2B protein. It was originally developed by Novartis (NVS) before Lilly took over.
- A Lilly spokesperson told Seeking Alpha “We routinely evaluate our clinical development programs to optimize the potential for each product.”