A GAME-CHANGING new fat-busting jab that can help tubby Brits shed large amounts of weight could be rolled out on the NHS.
Tirzepatide, from Eli Lilly and Company and sold under the brand name Mounjaro, is currently approved by UK regulators for type 2 diabetes but may also soon get the green light for obesity.
GettyA jab currently approved by UK regulators for type 2 diabetes but may soon get the green light for obesity[/caption]
ReutersTirzepatide from Eli Lilly and Company is sold under the brand name Mounjaro[/caption]
It works in a similar way to celebrity-endorsed Ozempic and Wegovey, which have been hailed as “miracle” off-label weight loss drugs.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) is now seeing whether tirzepatide would be a good use of NHS funds before recommending or rejecting it for use across the health service.
Patients taking the highest dose of the drug managed to shave off an average of 23 per cent of their body fat in 17 months.
In a new study, presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Dublin but not yet peer-reviewed, researchers conducted an analysis of 2,539 adults who were overweight or obese and had at least one weight-related complication, excluding diabetes.
They were split into groups to either receive a placebo drug, or 5mg, 10mg or 15mg doses of tirzepatide.
The proportion of people who lost weight compared with the start of the study, and those who lost more than five per cent of their body weight in total, were assessed across BMI categories 27 to 30, 30 to 35, 35 to 40 and 40 and over.
Body composition was also evaluated in a smaller group who underwent specialised scans to look at their fat mass and their lean mass.
At the start of the study, people typically weighed more than 16st (104.8kg) and had a BMI of 38.
The average body weight loss after 72 weeks of weekly injections was 16 per cent for the 5mg dose group, 21 per cent for the 10mg and 23 per cent for the 15mg group.
This compared with a two per cent loss on placebo.
The proportion of people who lost five per cent or more of their body weight was 89 per cent on the 5mg dose, 96 per cent on the 10mg and 96 per cent with 15mg.
This compared with 28 per cent on the placebo.
Furthermore, more than half of people (56 per cent) in the 10mg group and 63 per cent in the 15mg group lost a fifth or more of their body weight compared with one per cent on placebo.
All doses of the drug led to weight loss regardless of original BMI.
Experts also looked at a small subset of people, aged under 50, 50 to 65, and over 65, to see how much fat they lost compared with how much (non-fat) lean body mass.
The team said only a quarter of the weight lost was lean mass, resulting in an overall improvement in body composition.
Across the age groups, the change was almost identical, suggesting there was no evidence of excess lean mass loss in older people, they added.
‘SUBSTANTIAL’ RESULTS
The authors said: “In this 72-week trial in participants with obesity, tirzepatide once weekly provided substantial reductions in body weight, consistent across all BMI categories, with improvement in body composition that was clinically meaningful and consistent across age groups.”
Dr Louis Aronne, from Weill Cornell Medicine in New York and a consultant to Eli Lilly, who presented the findings, said there was a need to understand the effect of weight loss on fat mass and lean mass, particularly in the elderly.
He added: “This new analysis shows that around three quarters of the weight lost was fat mass, which is consistent across different ages.”
Research published by Eli Lilly in the last month showed tirzepatide helped people with type 2 diabetes who were overweight or obese lose up to 16 per cent of their body weight, or more than 34lb, over nearly 17 months.
Nice has approved a different drug, semaglutide, sold under the brand name Wegovy, for use on the NHS for obesity.
It is also available under the brand name Ozempic.
Both drugs mimic a key gut hormone, known as GLP-1, that is activated after eating.
This boosts the release of insulin and slows the release of sugar from the liver, which delays digestion and reduces appetite so makes people feel full longer.
However, side effects include vomiting and diarrhoea, according to the study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
It comes amid a fat jab craze that has seen stars including Jeremy Clarkson and Elon Musk enjoy the slimming shortcut.
Semaglutide is also rumoured to have helped Kim Kardashian fit into her Marilyn Monroe dress for last year’s Met Gala.