Most powerful obesity drug yet: People lost up to 25% of weight in trial

Key Points:

• Retatrutide, a new obesity drug developed by Eli Lilly, demonstrated significant weight loss in a late-stage clinical trial, with patients on the highest dose losing an average of 25% body weight after 80 weeks and 30% after 104 weeks.
• The drug also showed benefits in reducing knee pain by up to 62% in participants with obesity-linked knee osteoarthritis and decreased sleep apnea events by up to 57% in those with obesity-related obstructive sleep apnea.
• Retatrutide improved cardiometabolic health markers, including blood pressure, triglycerides, and LDL cholesterol, and resolved prediabetes in over 90% of affected participants by the trial's end.
• The trial involved 2,339 participants across 11 countries and compared three doses of retatrutide against a placebo, but did not include comparison with existing treatments like tirzepatide, leaving relative efficacy to be determined in future studies.
• Safety profile was similar to current GLP-1 and GLP-1/GIP drugs, with mostly mild gastrointestinal side effects; however, rare risks such as cardiovascular events and pancreatitis require further investigation in larger, longer trials.