2023-06-28 09:00:35
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – An experimental drug from Eli Lilly helped obese patients lose an average of 24% of their body weight over a 48-week period when consuming the highest dose in a study still underway. At mid-stage, the largest level of weight loss yet seen in a revolutionary new class of drug.
The drug, called retatrutide, had similar side effects to approved drugs in its same class, including Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, according to researchers in an Eli Lilly-funded study published Monday. In the New England Journal of Medicine.
The results were also presented at the American Diabetes Association conference in San Diego, USA.
These drugs mimic gut hormones to suppress appetite and slow stomach emptying and are given as an injection once a week, with pill versions also in development.
Ozempic, an approved type 2 diabetes drug from Novo Nordisk, and Wegovy, an approved weight loss drug, mimic only one hormone called GLP-1, and both have been shown to produce up to 15% weight loss in trials.
Eli Lilly’s approved type 2 diabetes drug, Mounjaro, which is pending FDA approval for weight loss, targets GLP-1 and GIP.
This led to a weight loss of between 21% and 23%.
Retatrutide adds a third target, glucagon, giving it the nickname “Triple G”.
In the mid-stage trial, Eli Lilly enrolled 340 obese adults with a body mass index of at least 30.
And 4% of the participants were patients whose body mass index reached between 27 and 30, which means that they are in the overweight category, and suffer from at least one weight-related health condition.
Although the rate of weight loss was 24% at the highest dose in the trial, a quarter of the patients who consumed the same dose managed to lose weight by at least 30%.
Compared to other weight-loss drugs, researchers led by Dr. Anya Jastrebov at Yale University School of Medicine reported in the New England Journal of Medicine that it represented an “unusually large level of efficacy.”
The researchers also noted that this level of weight loss is similar to the results of bariatric surgery.
The study showed that patients who used the drug experienced side effects that worsened when doses were increased, such as nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and constipation.
The researchers described the symptoms as “mild to moderate” overall, and stressed that they could improve if patients started with lower doses before moving on to higher doses.
The researchers reported that patients who consumed the drug experienced benefits not only in losing weight, but also in lowering blood pressure, as some patients were able to stop using blood pressure medications.
About three-quarters of the patients who had pre-diabetes at the start of the trial had achieved normal blood sugar levels by the end of the 48 weeks.
Average weight loss does not appear to slow after 48 weeks, according to the researchers, so a longer trial may reveal more information.
Eli Lilly is currently looking for participants for its Phase 3 trial.
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