Benzinga | Mar 4, 2021 11:40AM EST

Eli Lilly's Tirzepatide Tops Novo's Semaglutide In Late-Stage Diabetes Study

Eli Lilly & Co (NYSE: LLY) has reported positive results from another Phase 3 trial evaluating tirzepatide in Type 2 diabetics. The dual GIP/GLP-1 agonist beat Novo Nordisk A/S's (NYSE: NVO) semaglutide against multiple measures.

* Recently, Lilly released data from a series of late-phase trials linking tirzepatide to significant reductions in participants' blood sugar and body weight.

* The latest readout, from the 1,879-subject, 40-week SURPASS-2 Phase 3 trial, provides evidence that tirzepatide is more effective than the 1-mg dose of Novo's semaglutide.

* Across three tirzepatide doses (5 mg, 10 mg, and 15 mg), Lilly saw reductions in A1C, measuring blood sugar, ranging from 2.09% to 2.46%. A1C at baseline was 8.28%. Participants on 1 mg of semaglutide experienced a drop of 1.86% in A1C.

* The pattern of dose-dependent tirzepatide results, all of which beat semaglutide, was seen across the other endpoints.

* The proportion of patients with A1C of 5.7% or below, the threshold of normal, in the tirzepatide arms, ranged from 29.3% to 50.9%, compared to 19.7% in semaglutide cohort.

* Lilly also linked tirzepatide to significant reductions in body weight. Participants on the highest, 15-mg dose of tirzepatide lost 12.4 kg, a 13.1% decline from baseline. Subjects on semaglutide lost 6.2 kg.

* However, Novo recently linked once-weekly dosing with 2.4 mg of semaglutide to a 14.9% reduction in body weight by Week 68. The available data suggest the higher dose of semaglutide may provide a tougher test for tirzepatide.

* Semaglutide appears to have a tolerability edge over tirzepatide, too. In the tirzepatide arms, 5.1% to 7.9% of participants stopped treatment due to adverse events. The dropout rate in the semaglutide cohort was 3.8%.

* Price Action: LLY shares are up 0.7% at $203.44, and NVO shares slipped 1.3% at $70.52 in market trading hours on the last check Thursday.