The “magic drug for weight loss” semaglutide has just shown its prominence in the market, but another newcomer, tilpotide, is already gaining momentum. Last Sunday, Eli Lilly announced the results of a latest study at the annual meeting of the World Obesity Society: patients who received Tizepatide injections once a week for 84 weeks lost an average of more than 24% of their weight.

In the study, researchers from multiple universities including Johns Hopkins University and Eli Lilly studied nearly 600 overweight or obese patients. They initially underwent weight loss training for 12 weeks without taking any drugs, during which time they lost an average of about 7% of their body weight. They were then randomly assigned to receive the maximum dose of tilpotide or placebo for 72 weeks.

By the end of the study, patients taking tilpotide had lost an average of 18.4% more weight, while those in the placebo group had gained an average of about 2.5%.

By comparison, patients using Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy, which contain semaglutide, lost an average of about 15% of their weight over a similar period of time, according to another study.

This suggests that tilpotide may be more effective than semaglutide in reducing weight.

Wall Street News has also previously introduced that tilpotide is a dual-target (GIP/GLP-1) receptor agonist developed by Eli Lilly. It reduces patients' weight by suppressing patients' appetite and increasing energy consumption.

Tilpotide has previously been marketed as a diabetes treatment. Since its launch in May last year, tilpotide has immediately become the fastest-growing drug in pharmaceutical history, completely breaking all the records set when semaglutide was launched.

Currently, Eli Lilly is developing a weight loss drug version of tilpotide and is awaiting approval from the US FDA.

Thomas Wadden, the lead author of the study announcing the results and former president of the Obesity Society, said in a press release that patients taking tilpotide also showed improvements in other health indicators, such as blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure. These findings further suggest that tilpotide may be a highly effective drug for weight management and treatment of related complications:

In the most recent study, patients lost an average of 64 pounds, making the results comparable to those of surgical intervention.

Tilpotide may be a safe and highly effective alternative to surgery for some severely obese people.

fewer side effects

Of course, tilpotide also has side effects, but they may be milder than semaglutide.

The study results showed that 80% of tilpotide users reported at least one side effect, most of which were nausea, diarrhea, constipation or vomiting - which are also common side effects of semaglutide.

In clinical trials, 33% of patients taking the highest dose of tilpotide reported nausea, compared with 44% of semaglutide patients. Diarrhea was reported in 23% of tilpotide patients and 31% of semaglutide patients.

Gastroenterologist Christopher McGowan, an expert in the field of internal obesity, previously stated in a media interview that compared with semaglutide, the dual effects of tilpotide GLP-1 and GIP may lead to fewer and milder symptoms:

Side effects are similar, primarily gastrointestinal, and symptoms tend to be mild to moderate and improve over time.

There seems to be a lower overall incidence of side effects, and although this is purely anecdotal, my patients who transitioned from semaglutide to tilpotide reported that it was better tolerated.

McGowan also said that there are currently some reports showing that patients taking semaglutide or tilpotide have symptoms of hair loss, but this is rare and has nothing to do with the drug itself. It is mainly due to the patient eating less:

Any intervention that results in significant and potentially rapid weight loss may lead to hair loss.

The good news is that in these cases, hair loss is almost always temporary, and the most common cause is a brief pause in hair follicle growth, known as telogen effluvium.

The "panacea" has a long road ahead

Wall Street News reported earlier that based on a series of previous trials, GLP-1 has been able to treat more than ten diseases including diabetes, obesity, kidney disease, dementia, Parkinson's disease, sleep apnea, NASH (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis), psoriasis, alcohol addiction, etc. The outside world has even praised it as a "panacea".

However, while the market was in a state of carnival, industry insiders poured cold water on it.

Kavita Patel, a physician and writer who served as White House health policy director under President Obama, believes that the trial results released last week are one of the strongest evidence supporting the secondary use of semaglutide, but the evidence for its use in other conditions is insufficient.

Last Thursday, local time, she told the media that there is still a long way to go before semaglutide can become a "panacea."

These trials are not nearly as reliable as the data we have from the (Novo Nordisk) FLOW trial in patients with chronic kidney disease, sleep apnea, cardiovascular risk, diabetes control - the double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial is very precise.

We still have a long way to go in this regard. I've seen many so-called "miracle drugs" before.

Beyond that, Patel believes efficacy is just one of the major hurdles Ozempic needs to overcome before it can be approved for conditions other than diabetes.

We know this drug is very effective for people with diabetes, but there are many barriers to getting there — including cost, compliance, prescribing rates.

It is worth noting that patients who choose to use GLP-1 drugs for weight management often have to pay out-of-pocket because they cannot go through insurance. Patel said:

Now we see active employers and entire countries refusing to pay for weight loss.