Eli Lilly’s weight loss and diabetes injection tirzepatide—the active ingredient in Zepbound and Mounjaro—could improve symptoms of heart failure in patients with obesity, the company said Thursday, the latest findings suggesting the increasingly popular medications for weight loss and diabetes could have cardiovascular benefits.
The drug also significantly reduced symptoms and physical limitations.
Patients who used tirzepatide had a 38% lower risk of hospitalization or death because of heart complications compared to a placebo, according to findings from a two-year-long study by Eli Lilly, which involved more than 700 people.
The drug significantly reduced symptoms and physical limitations associated with heart failure, including fatigue, shortness of breath, a reduced ability to exercise and swelling in the arms and legs, the company said.
Tirzepatide also resulted in an average weight loss of 15.7% in patients with and without type 2 diabetes, compared with 2.2% in a group that used a placebo.
Eli Lilly shares rose by 3.2% to over $830 in premarket trading.
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6.7 million. That’s how many adults in the U.S. have heart failure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Heart failure was responsible for nearly 14% of all deaths in the U.S. in 2022.
Studies from pharmaceutical firms in recent months suggest additional benefits for GLP-1 agonists, a class of drugs that includes Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy. The European Union’s medical regulator approved Wegovy for reducing heart risks and strokes in overweight or obese patients, following earlier approval from the Food and Drug Administration. A study released in March found the drug reduced the risk of heart attack, stroke or death from cardiovascular disease by 20%. Another study published earlier this week found Ozempic could help people quit smoking. Other research suggests GLP-1 drugs could benefit people with sleep apnea, addiction, Parkinson’s, kidney disease and fatty liver disease.