Eli Lilly Foundayo pill cuts sleep apnea severity

Key Points:

• Eli Lilly announced that its obesity pill Foundayo significantly reduced the severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in obese patients during a late-stage trial, with plans to seek U.S. approval by year-end for treating moderate-to-severe OSA in adults with obesity or overweight.
• The trial involved two groups: patients not using positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy and those continuing PAP therapy; Foundayo reduced apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) events by 21.1 and 18.3 per hour respectively, outperforming placebo in both groups.
• Foundayo also lowered the sleep apnea-specific hypoxic burden by 55.9% in non-PAP users and 45.8% in PAP users, helped patients lose about 11% of their weight over 52 weeks, and reduced inflammation markers.
• Side effects were mainly gastrointestinal and generally mild to moderate, with higher discontinuation rates due to side effects in the Foundayo groups compared to placebo, but safety and tolerability were consistent with previous GLP-1 medication trials.
• Foundayo joins Lilly's injectable weight loss drug Zepbound, the first medication approved for OSA in the U.S., offering a new oral treatment option for the nearly 1 billion adults worldwide affected by OSA, many of whom remain undiagnosed.