Early trials have shown that a monthly injectable weight-loss drug can potentially help patients lose more pounds than the successful Ozempic vaccine.
California pharmaceutical company Amgen discovered that its experimental new drug MariTide helped patients lose up to 14.5 percent of their body weight in just 12 weeks
This compares to weight loss of 15 and 21 percent in trials of Ozempic and similar drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound over one year.
What’s more, some trial participants maintained their weight loss for nearly five months after stopping the drug.
On Ozempic, about two-thirds of patients regain all their lost weight one year after stopping taking it.
Amgen says this means MariTide could be taken at lower doses and reduce the risk of weight rebound.
The drug works slightly differently than weight-loss injections currently on the market, although it involves the same hunger hormone, GLP-1.
One part of the drug blocks the hormone GIP, which is thought to promote fat storage, while the other part mimics the activity of the GLP-1 hormones associated with feelings of satiety.
Amgen’s monthly injectable is a long way from reaching pharmacies. The latest data is part of a preliminary data set from a Phase 1 study involving just 49 subjects.
However, a phase 2 trial with more participants is underway.
Unlike Wegovy, Ozempic and ZepBound, Amgen’s injectable would be administered monthly. This would be attractive to patients unhappy with the standard weekly injection regimen and could translate into lower costs.
People taking MariTide lost up to 14.5 percent of their total body weight in just three months. They were also able to maintain weight loss after stopping the final dose.
The findings are noteworthy because the current weight loss shots on the market appear to work only as long as the person takes them, regaining the weight when they stop.
The latest results published in the magazine. nature metabolism were highly anticipated since company leaders shared early clinical trial results at a 2022 conference.
In the trial, 49 patients were given varying doses of the drug, ranging from 21 milligrams to 840 milligrams.
These patients were obese but did not have any other concurrent health conditions, such as diabetes.
Eight patients who received the highest dose experienced an average weight loss of 14.5 percent over a period of about three months.
Study data show that weight loss persisted even after patients stopped taking the drug. Participants maintained their maximum weight loss until approximately two months after their final dose.
People who received the highest dose of the monthly injectable experienced a steady decrease in waist circumference. The variability in centimeters lost reflects high variability in such a small patient sample. They also saw a sustained drop after stopping the shooting.
His weight began to increase slowly thereafter, but his body weight was still 11 percent lower five months after the last dose.
Narimon Honarpour, senior vice president of global development at Amgen, said: “That’s really a notable and distinctive feature of this molecule.”
If later phases of the study reinforce the early results, Amgen’s drug will inject a dose of competition into the growing obesity drug market currently dominated by Novo Nordisk’s blockbusters.
Wegovy, and to a lesser extent its sister drug Ozempic, approved for the treatment of obesity-related type 2 diabetes, is extremely difficult for patients to obtain due to huge demand outstripping anemic supply.
Insurance companies are also loath to cover Wegovy because of its exorbitant sticker price: up to $16,000 a year.
That doesn’t stop people from trying to get vaccinated.
In a survey conducted by the online doctor community platform, Sermo, in the fall of 2023, 346 healthcare professionals were surveyed, 89 percent reported seeing a recent increase. in patients seeking weight-loss medications, while 92 percent of primary care physicians said they had actively prescribed such medications.