A new weekly injection believed to help people shed large amounts of body fat is being considered for wider use by the UK’s health service.
Tirzepatide, from Eli Lilly and Company, is currently approved by regulators for type 2 diabetes – but may soon be approved for obesity.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) is examining whether the drug, sold under the brand name Mounjaro, would be a good use of NHS funds.
It will then either recommend or reject the once-weekly injection for use across the health service.
In a new study presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Dublin, but not yet peer-reviewed, researchers analyzed 2,539 adults who were overweight or obese and had at least one weight-related complication other than diabetes.
They were divided into groups to receive either a placebo drug or doses of 5 mg, 10 mg or 15 mg of tirzepatide.
The proportion of people who lost weight from baseline and those who lost more than 5 percent of their total body weight were assessed in BMI categories 27 to 30, 30 to 35, 35 to 40, and 40 and over
Body composition was also assessed in a smaller group who underwent specialist scans to see their fat mass and their lean mass.
At the start of the study, people typically weighed more than 16 (104.8 kg) and had a BMI of 38.
Average body weight loss after 72 weeks of weekly injections was 16 percent for the 5 mg group, 21 percent for the 10 mg group, and 23 percent for the 15 mg group.
This compares with a 2 percent loss on placebo.
The proportion of people who lost 5 percent or more of their body weight was 89 percent with the 5 mg dose, 96 percent with the 10 mg dose, and 96 percent with the 15 mg dose.
This compares with 28 percent for placebo.
In addition, more than half of people (56 percent) in the 10 mg group and 63 percent in the 15 mg group lost a fifth or more of their body weight, compared with 1 percent on placebo.
All drug doses resulted in weight loss, regardless of initial BMI.
The experts also looked at a small subset of people to see how much fat they lost compared to how much (fat-free) lean body mass they lost.
The experts looked at these findings in people under 50, 50 to 65, and over 65.
The team said only a quarter of the weight lost was lean mass, leading to an overall improvement in body composition.
Across age groups, the change was almost identical, suggesting there was no evidence of excess lean mass loss in older people, they added.
The authors say: “In this 72-week study in obese participants, once-weekly tirzepatide provided significant reductions in body weight consistent across all BMI categories, with improvements in body composition that were clinically meaningful and consistent across age groups.”
Dr. Louis Aronne of Weill Cornell Medicine in New York and a consultant to Eli Lilly, who presented the findings, said there is a need to understand the effect of weight loss on fat mass and lean mass, particularly in older adults.
He added: “This new analysis shows that about three-quarters of the weight lost is fat mass, which is consistent across ages.”
A study published by Eli Lilly last month showed that tirzepatide helped people with type 2 diabetes who were overweight or obese lose up to 16 percent of their body weight, or more than 34 pounds, in nearly 17 months .
Nice has approved another drug, semaglutide, sold under the brand name Wegovy, for NHS use in obesity.
With additional reporting from the Press Association
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