Mounjaro as good as older drug on heart-attack risk

More than 13,000 people with type 2 diabetes and a history of heart disease were enrolled in Lilly's trial

- Bloomberg

A trial of Eli Lilly & Co.'s blockbuster diabetes drug Mounjaro fell short of expectations that it would do a better job of preventing heart attacks and strokes than its older medicine Trulicity.

A head-to-head study of the two treatments—Lilly's largest and longest of Mounjaro to date—was designed to prove what's called non-inferiority, that Mounjaro was an acceptable alternative when it comes to reducing risks from major cardiovascular events compared with Trulicity.

While it achieved that target, the study dashed investors' hopes that Mounjaro would be meaningfully better than its older drug. "There's no mention of superiority, which was also tested for by Lilly," said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Michael Shah. "So it will likely be received negatively by the market."

Shares in the obesity-drug maker dropped as much as 5.3% in premarket trading in New York. Lilly's shares were down nearly 2% this year as of Wednesday's close, compared with an 8% rise in the S&P 500.