Next Generation Weight Loss Drug Delivers Record Results in New Study

The next generation of weight loss drugs is showing even more weight loss potential than the current class that has revolutionized the health market.Drug maker Eli Lilly says a last-stage clinical trial of a next-generation obesity drug showed record weight loss results and blood sugar level improvements among type 2 diabetes patients.The company released results Thursday on a test of retatrutide, an investigational first-in-class GIP, which combines GLP-1 and a glucagon triple hormone receptor agonist.Participants with diabetes who took the highest doses of the once-weekly shot lost an average of 36.6 pounds, or nearly 17 percent of their body weight in a 40 week period. They also achieved average A1C reductions of up to 2 percent.“For many people with type 2 diabetes, it is a struggle to achieve both A1C control and weight loss, since obesity has historically been harder to treat for those with type 2 diabetes,” the president of Lilly Cardiometabolic Health, Kenneth Custer, said in a statement. “These results support the remarkable potential of this novel molecule.”“Retatrutide delivers the highest levels of weight loss we’ve seen from an obesity drug to date,” Scotiabank analyst Louise Chen told Reuters.Lilly says retatrutide also showed meaningful improvements across key cardiovascular risk factors, including non-HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and systolic blood pressure.Side effects were similar to those seen in weight-loss treatment trials, including nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting.A previous longer-length trial of retatrutide showed such dramatic loss results with the highest doses that some patients dropped out early because they had lost so much weight that they perceived it as excessive.About one in eight adults say they are currently taking a GLP-1 drug to lose weight or treat a chronic condition, according to a KFF Health Tracking Poll. BMO Capital markets has predicted the global market for the growing and lucrative weight-loss drugs will reach $100 billion by 2035.Lilly has overtaken rival Novo Nordisk — the maker of the weight loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic — to dominate sales. Zepbound jumped in popularity after clinical trials showed it was more effective than Wegovy and had fewer complaints about side effects.Both companies have been lowering prices of their weight loss drugs for self-pay customers. Many insurance companies have balked at covering the drugs because of their high prices while the drugs were too expensive for many patients to pay out-of-pocket — especially on a long-term basis.The drug makers are now selling the drugs directly to consumers through their websites with starting doses as low as $199 a month and higher doses for under $450 a month. That compares to list prices north of $1,000 a month.The Trump administration also negotiated with the companies to lower what they charge Medicaid programs for weight loss drugs. Under the agreement, Medicare enrollees will have access to the drugs with a $50 copay.Novo has launched a pill form of Wegovy that offers a lower out-of-pocket cost than the injection.Lilly expects to launch a daily oral GLP-1 drug called orforglipron in the second quarter of this year. That drug reduced weight by an average of 7.9 percent in studies. It also helped patients maintain weight loss achieved with injectable drugs. The prices for orforglipron have not been announced but they are expected to be less expensive than Lilly’s weight loss shots.

Next Generation Weight Loss Drug Delivers Record Results in New Study

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