A “game-changing” diabetes drug helped obese volunteers shed 20% of their body weight in a clinical trial.
For the study, 2,500 people in nine countries injected themselves with either tirzepatide or a placebo once a week for 72 weeks.
Of those given the highest dose of tirzepatide, 57% lost 20% or more of their body weight.
Just 3% of those on the placebo lost as much.
First author Dr Ania Jastreboff, of Yale University in the US, said: “We should treat obesity as any chronic disease – with effective, safe approaches which target underlying disease mechanisms. Tirzepatide may do just that.”
Tirzepatide combines mimics of two hormones, GLP-1 and GIP, that our guts release naturally after we eat to make us feel satisfied.
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Another obesity drug, semaglutide, which contains just a GLP-1 mimic, was viewed as a weight-loss breakthrough when approved for use in February.
But patients taking it lost only an average 15% of their weight, 5% less than those taking tirzepatide.
The latest findings suggest that the GIP in tirzepatide is what makes it more effective.
Dr Simon Cork, of Anglia Ruskin University, said: “These drugs are game-changing.” Prof Sir Stephen O’Rahilly, of Cambridge University, said: “The results of this trial are very impressive.”
He added that patients also showed improved cardiovascular and metabolic health.
