STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The next generation of obesity medication is getting closer to reality. Eli Lilly is studying a new drug. Test results show it's more powerful, even more powerful than the obesity shots and pills already on the market. NPR pharmaceuticals correspondent Sydney Lupkin is here to tell us about it. Good morning.
SYDNEY LUPKIN, BYLINE: Good morning.
INSKEEP: I'm so glad you're the one who's going to pronounce the name of this new drug.
LUPKIN: (Laughter).
INSKEEP: What is it?
LUPKIN: The new drug is called retatrutide. So it's a weekly injection, just like Wegovy and Zepbound, but it's a little different. Wegovy and Zepbound target the GLP-1 hormone. This new drug works on three hormones - GLP-1, GIP and glucagon, and that makes it more powerful.
INSKEEP: When you say more powerful, you got to sell me because I have...
LUPKIN: Yeah.
INSKEEP: ...Seen the results in human beings of the existing drugs. How powerful is it?
LUPKIN: Yeah. So Eli Lilly, the company that makes retatrutide, says that in the clinical trial, people taking it for 80 weeks lost an average of more than 70 pounds at the highest dose. For comparison, patients taking the placebo over the same period - they lost 5 pounds. Those were the latest findings from its Phase 3 clinical study. I asked Dr. Carolynn Francavilla, who is the vice president of the Obesity Medicine Association, what she thought.
CAROLYNN FRANCAVILLA: I have goose bumps. Of course, we've seen some preliminary data about this before, so it's not shocking. But to have a medication that can have an average of a 28% weight loss is truly game-changing. This is essentially bariatric surgery but in a weekly injection.
LUPKIN: So to compare, people taking Zepbound and Wegovy lose around 20% of their body weight over time. So if it ends up that this drug is closer to the results for bariatric surgery, that's significant because surgery is risky. But nothing is without side effects. Retatrutide's were similar to other GLP-1 drugs, such as nausea and other gastrointestinal issues.
INSKEEP: Is this drug good enough that people - assuming it's approved by the FDA - will want to switch to it?
LUPKIN: You know, it won't be for everyone. In fact, Francavilla said it may be too powerful for some people. That's why having options is really important. And now we have Zepbound, Wegovy, the Wegovy pill, Foundayo. Here's Francavilla again.
FRANCAVILLA: We're really going to have to think about, you know, moving forward, which medication makes sense for which patients. But, I mean, if you would've told me this a decade ago, I would've thought it was a lie. It's amazing.
LUPKIN: Of course, a big issue is access. The obesity drugs already in the market are expensive, and a lot of insurance plans don't cover them, even though obesity is considered a chronic condition. If you're willing to go outside your health insurance, obesity drugs are available at a discount from Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk directly, but a lot of people still can't afford them.
INSKEEP: How expensive is the new drug likely to be?
LUPKIN: You know, we don't know yet. It's still early days for retatrutide. The company hasn't published these study results yet in a peer-reviewed journal. Retatrutide is not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Eli Lilly says it's planning to submit it for approval by the end of the year, and then it could be a while before the FDA does approve it. That said, Dr. Francavilla has heard about people supposedly buying a knock-off version of this drug off the internet. She says don't do that. You don't know what you're getting, and it could be dangerous.
INSKEEP: NPR pharmaceuticals correspondent Sydney Lupkin. Thanks so much.
LUPKIN: You bet. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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