The obesity epidemic is still bursting at the seams.
At the moment, 1.9 billion people are overweight, with more than 650 million considered obese. In addition, by 2022, $245 billion will be spent on products and services battling the issue. However, there may be some good news for those looking to shed extra weight.
The US FDA just granted Fast Track Designation to Eli Lilly (LLY) for its obesity treatment, tirzepatide in the U.S. According to Barron’s, “The designation will allow Lilly to begin a rolling submission of its application for approval of tirzepatide in obesity this year, the company said. Lilly will finalize its application after it has results from a second Phase 3 trial of the drug, which are expected to be available by the end of next April.”
Even better, the company’s first Phase 3 trial of the treatment for obesity showed solid results. In fact, on a mid-size dose, participants lose about 21.4% of weight on average. On placebo, participants lost about 2.4%. Also, in the mid-size group, 55% of the study group lost at least 20% of their body weight.
Should LLY see further solid results, we could be looking at a mega-blockbuster here.
