Eli Lilly and Company sold its glucagon rescue therapy Baqsimi to generics/specialty pharma Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for $500m up front on 24 April, just days after the Indianapolis pharma drew bigger headlines with the announcement of a head-to-head study testing Mounjaro (tirzepatide) against Novo Nordisk A/S’s Wegovy (semaglutide) in weight loss. Lilly, bullish on the efficacy profile of Mounjaro, may be looking to prioritize its investment in what is expected to be a larger revenue opportunity.
Details of the head-to-head, open-label Phase IIIb SURMOUNT-5 study testing Mounjaro, a GIP/GLP-1 agonist, versus Wegovy, a GLP-1 agonist given at 2.4mg, appeared on ClinicalTrials.gov on 21 April. The study will enroll an estimated 700 overweight or obese adults with weight-related comorbidities