An experimental new weight loss drug may be even more powerful than the current GLP-1s options, such as Ozempic or Wegovy, and help users shed even more pounds.
Retatrutide, a highly anticipated new weight-loss drug, passed a critical late-stage trial in patients with obesity, drug maker Eli Lilly announced Thursday.
At its highest dose, retatrutide helped patients lose 28.3 percent of their weight — an average of 70.3 pounds — over 80 weeks.
Over 45 percent of participants in the study lost more than 30 percent of their body weight, which is comparable to the amount lost with bariatric surgery, according to Lilly, which also makes the weight loss drug Zepbound.
The highest dose also helped patients with a BMI of 35 or above who participated in an extension of the study lose over 30 percent of their weight over an average of 104 weeks, the drugmaker said.
“It was impressive to see that every dose of retatrutide resulted in clinically meaningful weight reduction for nearly all participants, and people with severe obesity on the highest dose lost on average 30 percent of their body weight over two years,” said Dr. Ania Jastreboff, who led the study.
“Importantly, treatment with retatrutide not only resulted in robust weight reduction, but also in clear improvements in assessed cardiometabolic health measures. For patients I see in clinic, retatrutide may potentially be a highly impactful future tool to treat their obesity and transform their health trajectory.”
While the drug seemed to produce higher rates of gastrointestinal side effects than its competitors, such as nausea and diarrhea, the results were consistent with a previous Phase 3 trial on retatrutide in patients with obesity and knee pain.
A lower dose tested in the latest study yielded fewer side effects, the drugmaker said.
Dan Skovronsky, Lilly’s chief scientific and product officer, said patients losing 30 percent of their body weight was an “incredible number to see.”
“We haven’t seen that level of weight loss before with these kinds of medicines,” he told CNBC on Thursday.
Lilly has not yet filed for Food and Drug Administration approval for retatrutide, but says it expects to as early as this year.
Retatrutide has been described as the next big thing in weight loss, as it may be even more powerful than other popular weight loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy. Both of those drug have helped users lose up to 20 percent of their starting body weight, according to reports.
What sets retatrutide apart is that it targets three hormone pathways that affect user’s appetite, metabolism and blood sugar levels. The first is glucagon-like peptide-1, otherwise known as GLP-1. This hormone reduces appetite and slows down the rate at which food travels through your stomach. The second is GIP or glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, which helps regulate blood sugar and fat storage. Glucagon, which also helps manage your blood sugar levels, is the third.
Acting on all three of these hormones allows the drug to reduce how much a person eats and how much energy their body burns.
