- Eli Lilly and Company
- 11 December 2025 16:06:22
Source: Sharecast
The company said the findings from the TRIUMPH-4 trial positioned retatrutide as a potential new option for people with obesity complicated by joint disease, with seven further phase three readouts expected in 2026.
In the 68-week study, adults with obesity or overweight and knee osteoarthritis lost up to an average of 28.7% of their body weight, equivalent to 71.2 pounds, on the 12mg dose.
Participants also reported significant pain relief, with reductions of up to 4.5 points, or 75.8%, on the WOMAC pain scale.
More than one in eight patients receiving retatrutide became completely free of knee pain, compared with just over 4% on placebo.
“People with obesity and knee osteoarthritis often live with pain and restricted mobility, and may eventually require total joint replacement,” said Kenneth Custer, executive vice president and president of Lilly Cardiometabolic Health.
“We are encouraged by the results of TRIUMPH-4, which highlight the powerful effect of retatrutide, a first-in-class triple agonist, on body weight, pain and physical function.”
Retatrutide, which activates GIP, GLP-1 and glucagon receptors, also improved several cardiometabolic markers.
At the highest dose, systolic blood pressure fell by 14.0 mmHg, while non-HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and hsCRP also declined.
The trial enrolled 445 participants, 84% of whom had a baseline BMI of at least 35.
Safety data was broadly consistent with incretin-based therapies.
The most common adverse events were gastrointestinal, including nausea, diarrhoea, constipation and vomiting, with higher rates than placebo but few discontinuations directly linked to these events.
Lilly said overall discontinuation rates were similar between treatment and placebo groups, though some patients stopped therapy due to “perceived excessive weight loss”, with these cases strongly correlated with higher starting BMIs.
Using an alternative treatment-regimen analysis that accounts for adherence differences, retatrutide still delivered statistically significant benefits across all endpoints.
Weight reductions averaged 20.0% on the 9mg dose and 23.7% on 12mg, compared with 4.6% for placebo.
WOMAC pain scores improved by 62.6% to 67.2%, versus 35.1% with placebo.
Lilly said it planned to present full TRIUMPH-4 data at a future medical meeting and publish them in a peer-reviewed journal.
The company said it was running seven additional phase three studies evaluating retatrutide in obesity, type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnoea, knee osteoarthritis, chronic low back pain, cardiometabolic outcomes and liver disease, with key results expected next year.
“With seven additional phase three readouts expected in 2026, we believe retatrutide could become an important option for patients with significant weight loss needs and certain complications, including knee osteoarthritis,” Custer added.
At 1102 ET (1602 GMT), shares in Eli Lilly and Company were up 3.25% in New York at $1,025.93.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
