Eli Lilly is widening the aperture on its blockbuster drug class. The Indianapolis drugmaker is simultaneously pushing Zepbound into sleep apnea via a celebrity-led consumer campaign and testing the same molecular mechanism against major depression in a late-stage trial. The two moves underscore a deliberate strategy to reposition GLP-1 therapies as multi-indication treatments far removed from their weight-loss origins.
Shaquille O’Neal enters as the face of a national push for Zepbound in adults with moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and obesity. The campaign, titled “Watch This,” launched during Game 4 of the NBA Finals — one of the year’s most-watched live sports events — and spans television, streaming, digital, and social media. O’Neal publicly shares his own diagnosis and treatment journey with Zepbound, adding a personal credibility that pure advertising rarely achieves. The addressable market is substantial: roughly 24 million adults in the U.S. have moderate-to-severe OSA, and an estimated 85% of cases go undiagnosed.
Meanwhile, Lilly is probing an entirely different central nervous system disorder. The experimental drug Brenipatide, which activates both GLP-1 and GIP receptors like tirzepatide, is being tested as an add-on to existing antidepressant therapy in patients with major depressive disorder. The phase 3 trial, dubbed RENEW-MDD 1, aims to determine whether the monthly injection can delay relapse — not replace standard antidepressants. Two additional phase 2 studies are exploring Brenipatide in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, signaling Lilly’s ambition to build a psychiatry franchise as a third pillar alongside metabolic and endocrine care. But concrete data from RENEW-MDD 1 remain months, if not years, away.
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On the data front, a different pipeline asset stole the headlines in recent weeks. Retatrutide, a triple-receptor agonist, delivered a mean weight reduction of 28.3% over 80 weeks in the TRIUMPH-1 obesity study. More than 65% of participants on the highest dose achieved a body mass index below 30. Jefferies analysts called the profile “hard to beat” in a modern global obesity trial, lifting their price target on Lilly shares to $1,350 from $1,330 while reaffirming a buy rating. Bernstein also reiterated its buy recommendation.
The stock has absorbed the clinical momentum. Eli Lilly shares trade at roughly €999, just 4% below the 52-week high of €1,044 hit on June 8. Over the past 12 months, the stock has climbed nearly 42%, and it has risen roughly 18% in the last 30 days alone. The relative strength index now sits near 70, flirting with overbought territory after a sharp run-up fueled by pipeline updates, an upward revision to the 2026 annual guidance, and strong first-quarter sales of Mounjaro and Zepbound.
Whether the sleep-apnea indication becomes Zepbound’s next structural growth driver should become clearer when Lilly reports third-quarter results this autumn. The psychiatric bet on Brenipatide will take longer to resolve, but if successful it could extend the company’s platform technology into a third major therapy area — beyond obesity and diabetes — and provide a narrative for the stock’s current valuation premium.
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