{"id":579983,"date":"2026-04-02T04:19:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T04:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/579983\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T04:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T04:19:09","slug":"all-about-new-triple-g-drug-thats-helped-patients-lose-a-quarter-of-their-body-weight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/579983\/","title":{"rendered":"All about new ‘triple-G’ drug that\u2019s helped patients lose a quarter of their body weight"},"content":{"rendered":"

G whiz!<\/p>\n

The latest experimental GLP-1 from Eli Lilly isn\u2019t just a diabetes drug \u2014\u00a0it also facilitates weight loss.<\/p>\n

Known as \u201ctriple-G,\u201d<\/a> injectable retatrutide levies a triple whammy on the GLP-1, GIP and glucagon hormones, whereas most other drugs on the market only mimic one or two of those hormones.<\/p>\n

\"ExteriorEli Lilly\u2019s new retatrutide drug will be joining the ranks of the company\u2019s other popular diabetes and obesity meds, Mounjaro and Zepbound, with an estimated approval sometime in 2027. Katherine Welles \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Lilly\u2019s other smash hit drugs treat diabetes and obesity separately: Mounjaro for the former, and Zepbound for the latter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Clinical trials show that retatrutide was able to reduce blood sugar HbA1C, a key metric in diabetes treatment, by 1.9% \u2014 roughly the same efficacy as Mounjaro. Unlike Mounjaro, however, it also triggered 15% total weight loss on average within the first 40 weeks.<\/p>\n

Regarding the latest findings, Lilly\u2019s executive vice president and cardiometabolic health president, Dr. Kenneth Custer, has said<\/a> that for many patients with Type 2 diabetes, \u201cit is a struggle to achieve both A1C control and weight loss, since obesity has historically been harder to treat for those with T2D.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWith triple agonist retatrutide, we set out to make a molecule that could help patients achieve substantial A1C reduction and weight loss,\u201d he continued. \u201cThese results support the remarkable potential of this novel molecule for people living with T2D, with up to 2% A1C improvement and a nearly 17% weight loss in 40 weeks of treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, it\u2019s potentially good news for the 60% of overweight adults <\/a>with Type 2 diabetes because diabetes patients typically experience less weight loss than nondiabetic individuals when undergoing the same weight loss treatments.<\/p>\n

Not all participants in the trial were obese, and health experts are warning that in some populations, drugs like retatrutide might lead to too much weight loss \u2014\u00a0with some of those experts alleging that the pharmaceutical industry\u2019s race to develop the drug with the highest weight-loss potential might be chasing stock market value at the expense of patient health.<\/p>\n

\"ARetatrutide may be one of the most potent weight loss drugs to hit the market. New Africa \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

STAT reported last year<\/a> that some trial participants had discontinued retatrutide or significantly lowered their dosage out of concern that they were losing too much weight too fast.<\/p>\n

Some patients reported shedding 20-30% of their body weight in under a year while taking the drug, and at least one of those patients developed a kidney stone during that time, though the cause was unclear.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Retatrutide is expected to garner FDA approval next year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Post has previously reported on the litany of possible health complications associated with rapid weight loss connected to GLP-1 drugs, from malnutrition<\/a> to \u201ceye stroke<\/a>,\u201d muscle loss and eating disorders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dr. John Batsis<\/a>, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, told STAT that he\u2019s not just concerned about the next class of weight loss drugs, but that the available options might already be too potent for some patients.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One example: An elderly patient of his, who had been taking one of the drugs, lost so much weight that she became frail. She then fell and broke her hip.<\/p>\n

Some severely obese patients could benefit from 20% or greater weight loss, including those who might qualify for bariatric surgery. But for everyone else, including, as STAT pointed out, \u201cthe vast majority of people eligible for the drugs,\u201d losing that much weight could be more damaging to their health.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow much is too much weight loss is unknown, and we really need additional data and need studies to look at that,\u201d Batsis told STAT. \u201cWe need to be mindful of how much to push. Just because we can, doesn\u2019t mean we should.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"G whiz! The latest experimental GLP-1 from Eli Lilly isn\u2019t just a diabetes drug \u2014\u00a0it also facilitates weight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":579984,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[64,63,1835,71801,9636,137,490,1679,4390,4334,24019,555],"class_list":{"0":"post-579983","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-diabetes","11":"tag-experimental-drugs","12":"tag-glp-1","13":"tag-health","14":"tag-medication","15":"tag-medicine","16":"tag-obesity","17":"tag-pharmaceuticals","18":"tag-prescription-drugs","19":"tag-weight-loss"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}