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Investing.com - Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) reiterated its Overweight rating and $1,133.00 price target on Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) Monday, citing encouraging data from the company’s muscle preservation therapy when combined with weight loss drugs.
The investment bank highlighted Phase 2 trial results for Lilly’s Bimagrumab (Bima) combined with Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO)’s semaglutide, which showed the combination achieved 17-20% weight loss compared to 15% for semaglutide alone. More significantly, the combination demonstrated a more favorable composition of weight loss, with 92-96% coming from fat rather than muscle, versus 72% for semaglutide alone.
Safety and tolerability of the combination therapy were "better than expected," according to Morgan Stanley, though some concerns were raised about increased LDL cholesterol levels, which analysts noted could be managed with statins. Muscle spasms occurred in approximately 60% of patients but were characterized as mild and did not generate significant complaints from trial participants.
Eli Lilly is currently conducting additional Phase 2 trials combining Bimagrumab with its own GLP-1 drug tirzepatide in obesity patients with and without Type 2 diabetes, with readouts expected by April 2026 and October 2026, respectively. The company is also developing a subcutaneous formulation of the therapy.
Morgan Stanley believes these combination therapies could be particularly valuable for elderly patients on GLP-1 drugs who face higher risks of muscle mass loss due to age, with physicians at the American Diabetes Association meeting also expressing interest in potential applications for sarcopenic obesity, MASH (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis), and knee osteoarthritis.
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