(Reuters) -Eli Lilly has halted a study of an experimental drug, designed to prevent obesity patients from losing too much muscle, due to strategic business reasons, according to a U.S. registry of clinical trials.

The company was testing the drug, bimagrumab, alone or in combination with Lilly’s tirzepatide, the active ingredient in its blockbuster obesity treatment, Zepbound.

Lilly was aiming to see how well and safely bimagrumab, tirzepatide and their combination worked in lowering body weight in participants who were obese or overweight and had type 2 diabetes.

The shelved mid-stage trial was tracking 180 adult overweight patients with type 2 diabetes for more than a year. While weight reduction was the primary measure, investigators were also monitoring fat versus muscle loss, whic

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