Why Lilly and Novo are betting on amylin to power a new wave of obesity drugs after GLP-1s
Eli Lilly and Novo are developing new amylin drugs that serve as another biological lever to pull in treating obesity and diabetes.
TL;DR
- New obesity drugs are being developed to complement existing GLP-1 medications, rather than replace them.
- The amylin pathway is a key focus, involving a hormone that regulates hunger and fullness.
- Eli Lilly's experimental drug eloralintide showed substantial weight loss when combined with tirzepatide in a Phase 2 trial.
- Novo Nordisk is developing cagrilintide, often combined with semaglutide as CagriSema, and amycretin, which targets both GLP-1 and amylin pathways.
- Amylin therapies signal fullness, suppress appetite, and slow digestion, acting on a different biological pathway than GLP-1s.
- Targeting multiple pathways may lead to greater weight loss and metabolic benefits than single-pathway drugs.
- Novo's CagriSema has also shown potential in reducing 'food noise' and improving brain responses to food.
- Challenges remain, including the need for Phase 3 trials to confirm efficacy and address tolerability issues, as some combination therapies have higher discontinuation rates due to side effects.