NEW YORK, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Eli Lilly on Tuesday said preliminary data from a three-year study showed that its weight-loss drug significantly reduced the risk of progression to type 2 diabetes among adults with prediabetes and obesity or overweight.

According to the pharmaceutical company, top-line data from the three-year treatment evaluating the efficacy and safety of a weekly dose of tirzepatide, the ingredient of the company's injection Zepbound, and diabetes drug Mounjaro, showed a reduced risk of progression to type 2 diabetes by 94 percent.

The drug also led to significant weight reduction at an average of between 15 percent and nearly 23 percent, depending on the dosage, compared with the 2.1 percent reduction in patients who received a placebo.

However, noted The Wall Street Journal in its report about the finding, "the company also warned that during the 17-week off-treatment follow-up period, those patients who had discontinued the treatment began to regain weight and had some increase in the progression to type 2 diabetes, resulting in an 88 percent reduction in the risk of progression to type 2 diabetes compared with the placebo."

"Eli Lilly's sales of diabetes/weigh-loss drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound became a key factor for the drugmaker's performance, with second-quarter earnings largely beating expectations," it said.