Past trial lengths are meaningless for a discussion about a combo trial though, which I thought was the topic? Been on the PC for too long, brain is getting tired, could be wrong about that. Anyway, Evolve was 12 wks long.
As far as what "was safe and well tolerated, with mild, transient GI related adverse events" means, I could interpret it in various ways - transient but recurring diarrhea or loose stool may appear to be "mild", but not welcome, although Orlistat, which literally made people shit in their pants, still hit $1B in sales.
Per the E vs. L GI issues, I dunno if a free fatty acid formulation versus the ethyl ester form would cause different problems or not - way out of my pay grade.