As obesity increases, a new drug has been approved to combat the disease.
- A new treatment for obesity has been authorized in the United States: Zepbound.
- To be effective, it must be taken in combination with a balanced diet and an increase in physical activity.
- In France, where Zepbound is not yet on the market, 17% of adults are obese.
Whether it’s Wegovy or Ozempic, weight loss drugs seem to be ubiquitous these days. The FDA announced yesterday the approval of Zepbound, an injectable weight management drug that could well supplant its semaglutide-based competitors.
Obesity: a drug approved following two clinical trials
The approval follows two large-scale clinical trials. In both cases, Zepbound was taken in combination with a low-calorie diet and increased physical activity.
In both experiments, after 72 weeks of taking the drug, all participants who received it experienced a statistically significant reduction in body weight.
Zepbound also caused some pretty nasty side effects, ranging from gastrointestinal issues like diarrhea and vomiting to hair loss. It also comes with a whole series of warnings for people suffering from pre-existing conditions of obesity, such as pancreatitis or acute kidney injury.
How does the new obesity drug work?
Let us clarify that Zepbound is not a “miracle drug”. It has only been approved for people suffering from problems associated with being overweight such as high blood pressure, cholesterol or type 2 diabetes, and should be consumed in parallel with dietary rebalancing and the establishment of a sporting activity.
Like other weight management medications, Zepbound’s active ingredient, tirzepatide, is a synthetic alternative to the hormones that control our metabolism and appetite. It is already used in another drug, Mounjaro, to help improve blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes.
17% of adults are obese in France
In the United States, more than 4 in 10 American adults are obese, according to a new study from the NORC research center at the University of Chicago. In France, where Zepbound is not yet on the market, 17% of adults are obese (including 6% of children aged 8 to 17).
Obesity is a problematic disease in terms of public health, because it combines with many other severe pathologies (18, potentially). High blood pressure and cardiovascular pathologies are therefore twice as common among people with massive obesity as in the general population. For diabetes, the ratio is even 1 to 3.
