Eli Lilly and Co. (Eli Lilly (LLY)) dropped some interesting data on Sunday that should matter to a lot of women. The company presented new analyses showing that its obesity drug Foundayo (also known as retatrutide) helped women with obesity or overweight lose significant weight — regardless of where they were in the menopause journey.

The findings come from post-hoc analyses of more than 1,500 women enrolled in the ATTAIN-1 and ATTAIN-2 clinical trials. The data was presented at the American Diabetes Association's 86th Scientific Sessions, which is basically the Super Bowl for diabetes and obesity research.

Foundayo Shows Weight Loss In Menopausal Women

Here's the headline: women treated with the highest dose of Foundayo experienced meaningful weight reductions over 72 weeks whether they were pre-menopausal, peri-menopausal, or post-menopausal. That's important because menopause often brings metabolic changes that can make weight loss harder.

In the ATTAIN-1 trial, the numbers were striking. Women lost as much as 28.0 pounds (12.8%) before menopause, 30.4 pounds (14.4%) during menopause transition, and 28.2 pounds (14.1%) after menopause. So the drug worked consistently across all stages.

The ATTAIN-2 trial, which included women with Type 2 diabetes, also showed substantial weight loss. Participants lost up to 23.4 pounds (11.3%), 18.5 pounds (8.9%), and 27.8 pounds (13.6%) across the pre-, peri-, and post-menopausal groups, respectively.

Beyond the average numbers, a sizeable share of patients achieved at least 15% weight loss. At the highest dose, up to 51.5% of women in ATTAIN-1 and up to 44.2% of women in ATTAIN-2 hit that threshold. That's clinically meaningful — 15% weight loss is often associated with improvements in obesity-related conditions.

And it wasn't just about the scale. Participants also recorded notable decreases in waist circumference. Women in ATTAIN-1 saw reductions of up to 4.9 inches, while those in ATTAIN-2 experienced declines of up to 4.3 inches after 72 weeks of treatment. Waist circumference is a key measure of abdominal fat, which is particularly risky for metabolic health.

Eli Lilly Analyst Compares Retatrutide Performance Against Zepbound

Separately, analysts are sizing up how retatrutide stacks up against existing therapies. William Blair wrote on Monday, "We believe Eli Lilly successfully positioned retatrutide within the ultra-high potency category within its broad product portfolio…"

Analyst Andy Hsieh took a closer look at retatrutide's weight-loss profile relative to therapies already on the market. He acknowledged the limitations of comparing results across different clinical trials — it's not a head-to-head study — but he crunched the numbers anyway.

Hsieh found that retatrutide delivered roughly 3 percentage points of additional weight loss compared with Zepbound on a placebo-adjusted basis after 72 weeks. That's a meaningful edge, but he noted that investors had expected a larger separation. For context, the gap between Zepbound and Wegovy was previously observed at roughly 5% to 6%.

He also broke down the dose response: the mid-level 9 mg dose of retatrutide produced approximately 20% placebo-adjusted weight loss, slightly exceeding the highest 15 mg dose of Zepbound. Meanwhile, the 4 mg dose generated about 14% weight loss, placing it between Wegovy and Zepbound. So retatrutide seems to offer a range of potency options.

As for the stock, Eli Lilly shares were up 2.10% at $1155.13 at the time of publication on Monday. The stock is trading near its 52-week high of $1166.29, according to market data. Investors seem to like what they're seeing, even if the weight-loss gap wasn't as wide as some hoped.