Daily Pill Helps People Lose Weight, Combines GLP-1 With Other Drug

Follow Drugslib on

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com.

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 11, 2024 -- An experimental weight-loss pill appears to help people quickly shed pounds, a new study says.

People who took the drug amycretin lost up to 13% of their body weight over three months, according to early clinical trial results presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting in Madrid.

Amycretin mimics the action of two different hunger-related hormones at once, says Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharma company developing the drug.

The drug mimics glucagon, which is the hormone also imitated by the cutting-edge GLP-1 diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, which are given via weekly injection.

On top of that, amycretin also mimics amylin, another hormone implicated in hunger and insulin control.

“A single molecule that targets both amylin and GLP-1 biology in a tablet form could offer a more convenient approach to achieving better outcomes for individuals with overweight or obesity,” Novo Nordisk researchers wrote in a company news release.

For the study, researchers tested amycretin on overweight and obese people who didn’t have diabetes.

They found that amycretin outperformed placebo in helping people lose weight, and that higher doses of amycretin caused more weight loss.

Participants taking a single daily 50-milligram dose of amycretin lost a little more than 10% of their body weight, on average, within 12 weeks, researchers found.

Those taking the 50-mg pill twice a day lost even more, dropping 13% of their body weight

However, higher doses of amycretin also caused more side effects like nausea and vomiting, researchers noted.

People also continued losing weight as they took the drug, without hitting a plateau, results showed.

The results show that amycretin led to “remarkable reductions in body weight over only 12 weeks,” the research team led by Agnes Gasoirek, a senior clinical pharmacology specialist at Novo Nordisk, wrote in their abstract. “Furthermore, the lack of weight loss plateauing indicates the possibility of achieving further weight reductions with extended treatment.”

However, researchers said larger and longer clinical trials are needed to fully assess the drug’s safety and effectiveness.

Novo Nordisk funded the clinical trial.

Because these findings were published at a medical meeting, they should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Sources

  • European Association for the Study of Diabetes, news release, Sept. 10, 2024

    • Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

    Source: HealthDay

    Posted : 2024-09-11 23:30

    Read more

    Disclaimer

    Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Drugslib.com is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Drugslib.com information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Drugslib.com does not warrant that uses outside of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Drugslib.com's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Drugslib.com's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners.

    The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way should be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Drugslib.com does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the aid of information Drugslib.com provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

    Popular Keywords