The Next Wave of Weight Loss

If you thought the GLP-1 craze (like Zepbound and Mounjaro) was peaking, the plot thickens. Drug giants Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are lowkey betting on a new biological frontier: the amylin pathway. Amylin is a hormone our pancreases pump out alongside insulin to regulate hunger, and these companies are using it to build a massive new franchise of weight-loss meds.

The Numbers Behind the Meds

Lilly is currently flexing some serious Phase 2 trial results for its experimental drug, eloralintide. When users combined it with tirzepatide, they hit an average weight loss of 23.3% after 48 weeks. That is a major W compared to the 14.8% weight loss seen in those just taking tirzepatide alone.

Analysts are already hyping the financial potential. David Risinger at Leerink Partners projects eloralintide could rake in $23.2 billion in annual sales by 2035. The standalone version is expected to drop in 2029, with the combo therapy potentially hitting the market in 2030.

The Challenges Ahead

Real talk: it’s not all sunshine and rainbows yet. Tolerability is the current vibe check that needs improvement. In the trial, between 10.8% and 27% of patients on the combo regimen quit due to side effects, compared to just 2.9% on tirzepatide alone. Dr. Caroline Apovian from Brigham and Women’s Hospital didn't sugarcoat it, calling a 27% drop-off rate "not a good number."

Novo Nordisk is also in the race with cagrilintide and its high-profile combo, CagriSema, which is expected to launch next year. They’re even exploring "amycretin," a single molecule targeting both GLP-1 and amylin, which is highkey exciting for the future of metabolic health. Other players like Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Viking Therapeutics are also throwing their hats in the ring.

Why it matters

With over 10 million people struggling with current GLP-1 efficacy or side effects, these companies are scrambling to capture that massive independent patient pool. Whether it's silencing "food noise" or tackling stubborn plateaus, this is a multi-billion dollar pivot that could completely reshape how we treat obesity and Type 2 diabetes by the end of the decade.