Aug. 20, 2024 – The weight loss and diabetes drug tirzepatide, sold under the brand name Zepbound, was highly effective at reducing the risk of progressing from prediabetes to the more serious condition of type 2 diabetes, according to a glimpse of early study results released Tuesday by drugmaker Eli Lilly.
Tirzepatide is sold under the brand name Zepbound for weight loss and under the name Mounjaro for diabetes. The medicine works like other well-known diabetes and weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Tirzepatide is known as a dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist, meaning it works in two ways to mimic hormones released in the gut that can affect appetite and caloric intake. It can also impact insulin production.
These latest results are from a phase III clinical trial of tirzepatide, which is usually the largest phase of examining a drug’s effects and safety. Called the SURMOUNT-1 trial, this new analysis included 1,032 adults who had prediabetes and overweight or obesity. Results were compared among people who took a placebo, or one of three dosages of tirzepatide (5 milligrams, 10 milligrams, or 15 milligrams) that were given weekly as a shot for 176 weeks, which is more than 3 years.
The people taking tirzepatide had up to a 94% reduced risk of progression to type 2 diabetes, Eli Lilly announced in a news release.
The announcement was posted on Eli Lilly’s website for investors as part of rules that drug companies must follow regarding clinical trial information. These latest results will be presented at the ObesityWeek 2024 medical conference in November and submitted to a peer-reviewed professional journal, the company said in the release.
Study results also showed a notable average weight loss ranging from 15% to 23% of body weight, depending on dosage, compared to an average weight loss of 1% to 2% among people taking a placebo. After the 176-week treatment period, the people in the study were followed for 17 more weeks, during which they stopped taking the medicine. They began to regain weight, and there was some increase in the progression to type 2 diabetes, the news release stated. At the end of the 17-week monitoring period, the risk reduction of developing type 2 diabetes dropped about 6 percentage points, to 88%.
Earlier results from the SURMOUNT-1 trial, which were published in 2022 in The New England Journal of Medicine, showed that people lost, on average, between 15% and 21% of body weight after 72 weeks. More than double the number of people were included in that initial analysis, compared to these latest results, which only looked at people with prediabetes.
More than 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. have prediabetes, which is a condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not so high as to meet the criteria for type 2 diabetes. Most people who have prediabetes go on to develop the more serious condition of type 2 diabetes. The news release did not discuss whether taking tirzepatide was linked to any reversal of prediabetes in people.
Tirzepatide can cause digestive side effects that typically range from mild to moderate, Eli Lilly reported, noting that side effects seen in this latest analysis were like those reported in 2022 and in other clinical studies of the drug. The most common side effects were diarrhea, nausea, constipation, and vomiting.
