A drug called tirzepatide and sold under the name Zepbound has been approved in the US and the UK for use as a weight-loss medication
By Grace Wade
9 November 2023
Tirzepatide is sold under the name Mounjaro to treat type 2 diabetes
Mohammed Al ali/Alamy
A weight-loss drug called tirzepatide has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for adults who are overweight or have obesity and at least one weight-related condition, such as high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes. It has also been approved by the UK’s Medicine’s and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, although it is unlikely to be used by National Health Service doctors unless it also gets approved as cost-effective in a separate assessment.
In clinical trials, tirzepatide reduced body weight by an average of almost 21 per cent in people who were overweight or had obesity. “That’s the most weight loss we’ve ever seen with a medication,” says Louis Aronne at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. “[It is] a magnitude of weight loss that’s equivalent to surgery.”
The prescription medication, developed by US pharmaceutical company Lilly, was previously approved under the name Mounjaro for treating type 2 diabetes. It is now the seventh medication approved for weight loss in the US.
Advertisement
Read more
A type of vitamin B3 might treat chronic pain related to inflammation
“With rising rates of obesity, there’s been an increased demand for medications indicated for weight management, and we have faced shortages in the past,” says Priya Jaisinghani at NYU Langone Health in New York. Tirzepatide’s approval will increase supply and hopefully reduce these medication shortages, she says.
Tirzepatide, sold under the brand name Zepbound, is a once-weekly injection that mimics two hormones: GLP-1 and GIP. The body naturally produces GIP once we start eating, which increases hunger, and then releases GLP-1 after eating to trigger the sensation of fullness, says Aronne. “For reasons we still don’t understand, when you give [GIP] along with GLP-1, it reduces appetite even further,” he says.