{"id":538055,"date":"2026-03-22T05:48:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T05:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/538055\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T05:48:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T05:48:23","slug":"weight-loss-treatment-is-on-the-verge-of-a-dramatic-shift-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/538055\/","title":{"rendered":"Weight-loss treatment is on the verge of a dramatic shift \u2013 again"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n At the end of a seemingly ubiquitous commercial<\/a> for telehealth company Ro, a characteristically flabbergasted Charles Barkley speaks for us all when he remarks, \u201cWait, you\u2019re telling me they have a GLP-1 pill for weight loss now?\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n They do \u2013 and it turns out to be as wildly popular as its injectable predecessors. Just about 10 weeks after it was approved<\/a> by the US Food and Drug Administration, the Wegovy pill is now estimated to be part of the daily regimen of about 400,000 Americans. And the field of weight-loss treatment is on the verge of even more head-spinning change.\n <\/p>\n

\n A second pill is under review at the FDA, expected to hit the market as soon as next month, and many more are in clinical trials. Some companies are testing drugs that only need to be taken once a month<\/a>. And an even more powerful next generation of medicines is quickly approaching, churning out trial results \u2013 including some new ones Thursday \u2013 that leave current options in the dust in terms of efficacy.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe are entering this kind of phase two of using the GLP-1 system,\u201d said Dr. Jody Dushay<\/a>, an endocrinologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.\n <\/p>\n

\n The next wave could be driven by cost and convenience as much as by new approaches to treatment. The weight-loss pills \u2013 the one<\/a> already on the market and the one waiting to be approved \u2013 have brought prices to new lows for US patients in a deal<\/a> that both drugs\u2019 makers struck with the Trump administration, even as insurance coverage can remain spotty for many.\n <\/p>\n

\n And the more powerful drugs on the horizon could bring options for people who don\u2019t get enough benefit from currently available therapies \u2013 but also, doctors warned, the risk of inappropriate use.\n <\/p>\n

\n One such drug is retatrutide, a weekly injectable medicine in development at Eli Lilly, which also makes Mounjaro for diabetes and Zepbound for weight loss.\n <\/p>\n

\n Those drugs are based on the active ingredient tirzepatide, which mimics two hormones: GLP-1 and GIP. Retatrutide ups the ante by adding a third, called glucagon, earning it the moniker \u201cTriple G.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s breaking records<\/a> for weight loss induced with medicines; in clinical trial results<\/a> reported in December, retatrutide led to average loss of up to 29% of participants\u2019 body weight after 68 weeks, or about 71 pounds, in a study of people with knee osteoarthritis. The drug was also associated with reduced knee pain.\n <\/p>\n

\n In new results released Thursday on type 2 diabetes, with which patients tend to lose less weight with medications, Lilly said the drug lowered A1C blood sugar levels by an average of 1.7% to 2% at 40 weeks and produced average weight loss of up to 17%, or about 37 pounds. That exceeds results<\/a> for Mounjaro, which showed an average A1C reduction of 1.7% and weight loss of about 9% at the highest dose in a separate trial.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s looking like perhaps we are approaching another level\u201d with drugs like retatrutide, said Dr. Judith Korner<\/a>, an endocrinologist and director of the Metabolic and Weight Control Center at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.\n <\/p>\n

\n Novo Nordisk, which competes with Lilly with its drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, is in the Triple G game as well, reporting<\/a> average weight loss of almost 20% after 24 weeks in a mid-stage study of another experimental drug in China last month.\n <\/p>\n

\n The company\u2019s higher-dose version of Wegovy won FDA approval Thursday, based on trial results showing average weight loss of 21% over 72 weeks, putting it in the same league as Lilly\u2019s Zepbound. Novo Nordisk said<\/a> the weekly injectable drug would be available as a single-dose pen in the US in April, and hasn\u2019t yet announced its price.\n <\/p>\n

\n The company is also pursuing other approaches, including a drug called CagriSema that combines semaglutide \u2013 the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy \u2013 with cagrilintide, which targets another hormone called amylin. But in clinical trials, it hasn\u2019t kept up<\/a> with Lilly\u2019s tirzepatide, much less retatrutide, although Novo Nordisk is testing higher doses.\n <\/p>\n

\n Still, while the new combinations \u201cwould be great for people who need to lose more weight,\u201d Korner said, \u201cnot everyone needs the so-called big gun.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Drugs like retatrutide may be most appropriate for someone who has a body mass index above 45 \u2013 above 30 is considered obese \u2013 and for whom existing drugs haven\u2019t worked sufficiently, Dushay said.\n <\/p>\n

\n She estimates that about 10% of her patients either don\u2019t get enough benefit from current medicines or can\u2019t tolerate the side effects, which typically are gastrointestinal in nature, including nausea and vomiting.\n <\/p>\n

\n Retatrutide has shown similar side effects, as well as a prickling sensation known as dysesthesia. And some participants have dropped out of retatrutide trials<\/a> because they felt that they lost too much weight.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThere are these cases where retatrutide will be able to really make a difference,\u201d Dushay said. But she worries that its souped-up results could be dangerous if it\u2019s used inappropriately.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhat\u2019s going to happen if people take it for just a little bit of weight loss?\u201d she asked. Already, \u201cyou\u2019re starting to see some Hollywood images of body types that are so shocking. So there is a little bit of concern about that.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s a concern that has been pervasive enough for existing drugs that Lilly released a commercial<\/a> ahead of the 2024 Oscars urging against \u201cvanity\u201d use.\n <\/p>\n

\n That was at a time when the drugs\u2019 supply was a problem. \u201cIt matters who gets them,\u201d the ad\u2019s tagline said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Now, supply is ramped up, including for pill versions of GLP-1s that are also changing the treatment landscape.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Wegovy pill was approved in December, and the speed with which people started using it broke records<\/a>, according to one Wall Street firm, which said it became the fastest drug launch in history. Some analyses<\/a> of early uptake show that it\u2019s enticing at least some users who haven\u2019t tried GLP-1 therapies before, suggesting that some may have preferred a noninjectable option. Many of the new prescriptions have been written by general practitioners, rather than weight-loss specialists.\n <\/p>\n

\n But the Wegovy pill isn\u2019t expected to be alone on the market for long. Eli Lilly \u2013 continuing a nearly century-long duel<\/a> with Novo Nordisk that began with insulin<\/a> and is escalating with GLP-1s \u2013 anticipates FDA approval of its own pill, called orforglipron<\/a>, before the end of June.\n <\/p>\n

\n A key differentiator is that it can be taken at any time of day, with or without food and drink, whereas the Wegovy pill has more restrictions. Since the latter is a version of semaglutide, which is typically given by injection, it\u2019s been specially formulated to be taken orally. Thus it\u2019s finickier than a typical pill: It must be taken<\/a> first thing in the morning, with just a small amount of water, and no food, drinks or other medicines for at least 30 minutes.\n <\/p>\n

\n For that reason, Korner said, orforglipron will be her go-to choice for people who decide they want to take a GLP-1 pill.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIf you don\u2019t take the Wegovy pill just right, very little of the drug is actually absorbed,\u201d Korner said. \u201cSo it\u2019s better to be able to remove that from the equation and not have to worry, \u2018is my patient taking the pill correctly?\u2019\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Cost is an important consideration as well, and there too, the weight-loss drug space has seen rapid transformation. The pills are priced at $149 a month for the lowest doses if patients pay out of pocket, through a deal<\/a> struck with the Trump administration in November through its TrumpRx drug pricing initiative.\n <\/p>\n

\n The companies also offer direct-pay prices for the injectable drugs, but they still cost<\/a> hundreds of dollars a month out of pocket. Still, those prices can be the best for people whose insurance won\u2019t cover the medicines, which can still be a major problem, Dushay said.\n <\/p>\n

\n This year, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts announced<\/a> that it would stop covering GLP-1s for obesity, saying the drugs\u2019 costs were driving insurance premiums too high. It suggested that patients consider buying the drugs directly from manufacturers.\n <\/p>\n

\n Medicare is a brighter spot, expanding coverage for some patients as part of the November deal, but still doesn\u2019t cover weight-loss drugs for all who might want them.\n <\/p>\n

\n Trouble with insurance coverage is a key reason Dushay said she\u2019s seen patients switch to the Wegovy pill. And although orforglipron is expected to get the same starting price, if there\u2019s a differential, Korner said, that could be a deciding factor for her.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIf they\u2019re paying out of pocket and one is less expensive than the other and I think that they both are probably as good,\u201d she said, \u201cthen I would switch.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the end of a seemingly ubiquitous commercial for telehealth company Ro, a characteristically flabbergasted Charles Barkley speaks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[97,243],"class_list":{"0":"post-538055","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-medication"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}