On Friday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new type II diabetes drug from Lilly. It can be seen that in clinical trials, this new double targeted therapeutic drug has been proved to be more effective than other evaluation therapies Even better, the subjects received only a weekly injection of mounjaro (tirzepatide) to simulate the effect of an intestinal hormone that helps regulate blood sugar and inhibit appetite
(from: FDA Official website, Lilly | PDF)
New atlas pointed out that the new drug has not only proved to be superior to other existing schemes in controlling blood glucose levels, but also found that the drug can be used in anti obesity treatment in a recent trial.
Patrick archdeacon of the FDA Center for drug evaluation and research said: "many patients have encountered challenges in controlling the target blood glucose level, and the mounjaro approved today is an important progress in the treatment of type II diabetes.".
It is reported that mounjaro belongs to a new class of drugs for the treatment of diabetes, which aims to simulate a hormone called glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1).
This hormone is naturally released from the gut and has been previously shown to regulate blood sugar and appetite. As early as 2017, wegovy, the first drug using GLP-1 mechanism, was approved for the treatment of type II diabetes.
However, Lilly's newly launched mounjaro (tirzepatide) is slightly different from wegovy. It aims to simulate the action mechanism of GLP-1 and another intestinal hormone called gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP).
Clinical trials have found that this double effect agonist of GLP-1 and GIP is more effective than GLP-1 in the treatment of type II diabetes.
However, it should be noted that FDA approval of mounjaro is limited to adult patients with type II diabetes. At the same time, the agency recommends combining diet and exercise programs to achieve better blood glucose control goals.
Interestingly, although wegovy was initially approved by the FDA as a drug for the treatment of diabetes, subsequent clinical trials found that it was also a good news for overweight non diabetes subjects. Last year, the FDA authorized wegovy to be used as an anti obesity drug.
A preliminary report on the effectiveness of anti obesity drugs, published last month in the Journal mounjaro, has not yet been published. It can be seen that about two-thirds of overweight subjects lost 20% of their weight after one year.