Plate Nº 96 · recorded October 1, 2026
Health & Medicine ResearchReported finding
Experimental Drug Combo Cuts Body Weight by Up to 23.3% in Diabetes Trial
A phase 2b trial found Eli Lilly's eloraTZP, combining eloralintide and tirzepatide, produced up to 23.3% weight loss and big HbA1c drops in adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes.
By Nathan Brooks3 min read674 words
In brief
- In a 367-person phase 2b trial, the highest dose of eloraTZP (eloralintide 9 mg + tirzepatide 15 mg) produced a mean weight loss of 23.3% (24.6 kg) at 48 weeks.
- HbA1c, a measure of blood sugar control, fell by an average of 2.9 percentage points at the highest dose; the lowest dose achieved 13.2% weight loss and a 2.2-point HbA1c reduction.
- The most common side effects were mild or moderate gastrointestinal events, occurring mainly during dose escalation and more often with the combination than with either drug alone.
An investigational drug combination from Eli Lilly helped people with obesity and type 2 diabetes lose up to 23.3% of their body weight over 48 weeks, while also substantially improving blood sugar control. Researchers presented the results from a phase 2b trial at the 2026 annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), held in Milan, Italy, from September 28 to October 2.
The treatment, called eloraTZP, combines two medications: eloralintide and tirzepatide. Eloralintide is a selective amylin receptor agonist, meaning it mimics amylin, a hormone released by the pancreas after meals. Tirzepatide mimics two gut hormones, GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) and GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1). All three hormones naturally help regulate hunger and blood sugar, each acting through its own receptor.
The idea behind the combination is to target several of these hormonal pathways at once. That approach matters for this particular patient group: adults with obesity or overweight and type 2 diabetes, a population in which substantial and sustained weight loss has historically been difficult to achieve.
The study enrolled 367 such adults and tested the safety and effectiveness of eloralintide combined with tirzepatide, administered as two separate pen injections. All four dosing combinations met the study's primary and secondary goals at the 48-week mark, delivering meaningful weight loss and reductions in HbA1c, a standard measure of long-term blood sugar control.
The numbers varied by dose. Participants started at an average weight of 105.4 kg (232.4 pounds). Those on the smallest dose of eloraTZP (3 mg of eloralintide plus 5 mg of tirzepatide) lost an average of 13.2% of their body weight—13.9 kg, or 30.6 pounds. Their HbA1c fell by an average of 2.2 percentage points from a starting average of 8.1%.
At the highest dose tested (9 mg of eloralintide plus 15 mg of tirzepatide), the average weight loss reached 23.3%, or 24.6 kg (54.2 pounds), and HbA1c dropped by an average of 2.9 percentage points.
"Obesity and type 2 diabetes are interconnected, and we are seeing the potential benefit of targeting multiple hormonal pathways to address both," said Dr. Liana K. Billings, lead author of the study and director of clinical and genetics research in diabetes and cardiometabolic disease at Endeavor Health in Evanston, Illinois.
"Across the dose combinations studied with eloralintide and tirzepatide, participants had substantial weight loss alongside meaningful reductions in HbA1c," Billings said. "These are outcomes that matter to patients."
The results come with caveats. The drug is investigational, meaning it is not yet approved for use outside of clinical trials, and these findings come from a phase 2b study—an intermediate stage of testing that typically involves several hundred participants. Larger phase 3 trials are generally required before regulators decide whether a drug can reach the market. The trial also lasted 48 weeks, so longer-term safety and durability of the weight loss remain open questions.
On safety, the most common side effects were gastrointestinal—such as stomach upset—and were generally mild or moderate. They occurred mostly during the dose-escalation phase, when participants were stepping up to their target doses. These events appeared more frequently in the combination treatment groups than in groups receiving eloralintide or tirzepatide alone.
The researchers see the data as a step toward better options for a patient group that often has to juggle treatments for both weight and blood sugar separately.
"We need to continue building on these findings so that, in the future, we can offer patients more treatment options that address both weight and blood sugar control and better reflect the complexity of living with type 2 diabetes and obesity," Billings said.
For now, the takeaway is cautiously encouraging: combining hormones that act on different receptors produced some of the larger weight-loss figures reported to date in people with both obesity and type 2 diabetes. Whether those results hold up in larger, longer trials will determine whether eloraTZP becomes a real-world option.
via Medical Xpress (Source)