Pharma giant Eli Lilly (LLY) has canceled a clinical trial involving an experimental drug meant to preserve muscle in people taking weight-loss medications.
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The study was a Phase 2 clinical trial testing the drug Bimagrumab, alone and in combination with Eli Lilly’s existing Zepbound weight-loss medicine. The study that was halted also included people with Type 2 diabetes. Eli Lilly said the trial was canceled for “strategic business reasons,” and that it often decides to stop clinical trials after evaluating them and the potential of drug candidates.
The medication Bimagrumab is designed to preserve muscle in people taking weight-loss medications such as Zepbound. Obesity drugs can have a side effect that cuts lean mass as well as burns fat. The clinical trial involving Bimagrumab appears not to have gone as planned or hoped.
Improving Treatments
Eli Lilly has said that it wants to build on the success of Zepbound with new medicines that can address its limitations and side effects. Among those weaknesses is the loss of muscle that can occur in people taking obesity drugs, in part because a suppressed appetite leads them to consume less protein.
The clinical trial that Eli Lilly terminated was expected to enroll 180 people and finish in late 2026. The trial had been measuring how well Bimagrumab stimulates weight loss and preserves muscle mass. Initial results had been expected in April 2026.
Is LLY Stock a Buy?
The stock of Eli Lilly has a consensus Strong Buy rating among 20 Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on 16 Buy and four Hold recommendations issued in the last three months. The average LLY price target of $909.31 implies 26.77% upside from current levels.
