Lilly halts muscle-sparing obesity drug trial, citing strategy shift

Eli Lilly has canceled a Phase 2 trial of bimagrumab, a muscle-sparing obesity drug, citing "strategic business reasons," while a separate trial in non-diabetics remains active.

Why it matters: The move signals shifting priorities in Lilly's obesity drug pipeline that don´t justify a trial running through 2026. This raises questions about the FDA's evolving standards for muscle-preserving therapies alongside GLP-1 drugs.

Backstory: Bimagrumab, originally developed by Novartis, was later acquired by Lilly through its $1.9B buyout of Versanis Bio in 2023. It’s designed to counter muscle loss seen in patients using weight loss drugs like Zepbound or Wegovy.

Big picture: The FDA appears to now require that muscle-sparing drugs show additional weight loss benefits, not just muscle preservation, to win approval. This shift raises the bar for companies developing adjunct therapies in the competitive obesity treatment market.

What´s next: The ongoing trial is still listed as testing bimagrumab with and without Zepbound in non-diabetic patients, with results expected in April 2026. Other companies developing similar drugs include Regeneron, Biohaven, Scholar Rock, and Veru, whose stock dropped this week after acknowledging new FDA expectations.