Lilly Quietly Advances Next-Gen Obesity Candidate Eloralintide With Phase 1 Completion

Eli Lilly And Company (LLY) announced an update on their ongoing clinical study.

The phase 1 study titled “A Phase 1, Open-Label, Single and Multiple Dose Study to Investigate the Safety, Tolerability, and Relative Bioavailability of Single and Multiple Weekly Subcutaneous Doses of Eloralintide, and Single and Multiple Weekly Subcutaneous Doses of Eloralintide With Tirzepatide in Participants With Overweight or Obesity” aims to test how safe Eli Lilly’s new drug eloralintide is, both alone and in combination with tirzepatide, in adults with overweight or obesity, and to understand how the body absorbs and clears the drug. This early work is important because it could support Lilly’s next wave of obesity treatments and help extend its lead in the fast-growing weight-loss market.

The study tests weekly shots of eloralintide (also known as LY3841136), given under the skin, either on its own or together with tirzepatide. The goal is to see how well people tolerate these injections, what side effects appear, and how much of the drug enters the blood and for how long. By combining eloralintide with tirzepatide, Lilly is exploring whether a multi-drug strategy can improve weight-loss outcomes or durability over time.

This is an interventional phase 1 trial with two experimental arms: one group receives eloralintide with tirzepatide, and another group receives eloralintide alone. The study is non-randomized and uses a parallel-group design, meaning participants are assigned to one treatment path and stay on it. The trial is open-label, so both doctors and participants know which treatment is being used. The main purpose is basic research on safety, tolerability, and drug behavior in the body rather than direct weight-loss results.

The trial started after initial submission on 1 April 2025, with participants followed for up to about 26 weeks in some cohorts and around 11–12 weeks in others, covering multiple single- and repeat-dose schedules. The overall study status is listed as completed, and the most recent update was posted on 29 January 2026, signaling that Lilly has finished dosing and follow-up and is likely analyzing data. Primary completion occurred before this last update, and the current listing confirms the trial has moved out of active recruitment into data review and internal decision-making.

For investors, a completed phase 1 obesity study from Lilly is a noteworthy signal. Positive safety and drug-exposure data could justify moving eloralintide, alone or with tirzepatide, into larger trials, strengthening Lilly’s already dominant obesity portfolio behind Mounjaro/Zepbound. This may support bullish sentiment on LLY as the company builds a multi-asset obesity franchise and looks to extend patent life and pricing power. At the same time, the update raises competitive pressure on peers like Novo Nordisk and emerging GLP-1 players, as it suggests Lilly is not relying on a single flagship drug but is actively building combination and follow-on assets. Confirmation that the trial is completed without visible setbacks should be viewed as a mild positive for LLY’s long-term pipeline story, even though detailed efficacy data are not yet public.

The study is now completed and recently updated, with more detailed information available on the ClinicalTrials portal.

To learn more about LLY’s potential, visit the Eli Lilly And Company drug pipeline page.