Eli Lilly to trial use of weight loss drugs to combat unemployment in UK

LONDON — U.S. pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly is exploring whether obesity drugs could be used to curb joblessness after signing a major investment deal with the U.K.

The weight-loss treatment firm and creator of Zepbound announced Monday that it would commit £279 million ($364 million) to help tackle Britain's significant health challenges — including obesity.

The "strategic collaboration," agreed with the U.K.'s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), came as part of a wider £63 billion package of investments announced at the close of the Labour government's inaugural International Investment Summit on Monday.

The Eli Lilly deal will see the company launch a "real-world" study to understand how tirzepatide — the GLP-1 treatment behind its Zepbound and Mounjaro drugs — impacts weight loss, diabetes prevention, and prevention of obesity-related complications, to better inform the National Health Services' treatment of obesity.

Within that, the five-year trial, conducted in collaboration with Health Innovation Manchester, will also explore how weight-loss drugs impact "participants' employment status and sick days from work," the company said in a press release.

"This collaboration will add to the evidence base on the real world impact of obesity treatments on the health of people with obesity, and will explore a broad range of outcomes including health-related quality of life and impact on individuals' employment status," professor Rachel Batterham, senior vice president for International Medical Affairs at Lilly, said.

The U.K.'s Health and Social Care Minister Wes Streeting said the partnership was "key to building a healthier society, healthier economy,