The top row
Eli Lilly’s weight-loss injectable tirzepatide — the ingredient in the wildly popular drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound — could also help treat sleep apnea, according to research published Friday, a potential game changer for the common condition that boosts case of GLP-1 insurance coverage amid increase. evidence that the drugs have many medical benefits beyond diabetes management and weight loss.
CPAP masks are a common treatment for sleep apnea.
Basic elements
Sleep apnea is a common condition where breathing starts and stops repeatedly during sleep, which reduces the amount of oxygen available to the body and increases the risk of serious health conditions such as high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, diabetes and dementia.
is which is commonly caused when the upper airway becomes blocked, known as obstructive sleep apnea, but it also happens if the brain doesn’t send the right signals needed for breathing.
Tirsepatide significantly reduced the number of pauses in breathing during sleep — a key measure of disease severity — for clinically obese people living with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, according to the results of two clinical trials published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Journal of Medicine.
The study, which involved a global team of researchers and was funded in part by Eli Lilly, evaluated different doses of tirzepatide or placebo over the course of one year in 469 patients recruited from nine countries, including the US, Australia and Germany. some of whom used continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines when they slept to keep their airways open.
Some patients improved to the point that they may no longer need CPAP therapy, the researchers found, a potential benefit for the many patients who do not use the machines and a development that study lead author Atul Malhotra said could potentially to change the way clinicians approach and treat the condition.
Could Zepbound and Mounjaro become the first drug treatments for sleep apnea?
Lily was announced preliminary results from the trial in April and said tirzepatide reduced the severity of sleep apnea by nearly two-thirds. Lilly said it will begin submitting data to the Food and Drug Administration and other global drug regulators by the middle of the year with a view to expanding tirzepatide’s label to include the treatment of sleep apnea. The company has already received a fast track designation for moderate to severe OSA and obesity from the FDA and, if approved, would become the first drug treatment for the underlying causes of sleep apnea.
Big number
1 billion That’s how many people are is appreciated living with obstructive sleep apnea worldwide. Lily he said The condition affects approximately 80 million people in the US, 20 million of whom live with moderate to severe OSA.
What We Don’t Know
The size of the sleep apnea market for tirzepatide is significant but hidden because the majority of OSA cases are “underdiagnosed and therefore undertreated,” said Lilly senior vice president of product development Jeff Emmick. “Addressing this unmet need is critical, and while there are drug treatments for excessive sleepiness associated with OSA, tirzepatide has the potential to be the first drug treatment for the underlying disease,” Emmick said.
Key background
These results add to a growing body of research showing that the health benefits of the popular weight loss and diabetes injections extend far beyond these conditions, including the potential to treat heart disease, kidney disease, addiction and Parkinson’s. Much of this research suggests that the medical benefits are not just the result of blood sugar management and weight loss, although this improves health, but also result from other mechanisms of action. The ability to market GLP-1 drugs such as semaglutide (sold as Ozempic and Wegovy for diabetes and weight loss) and tirzepatide for additional indications has become a key strategy for pharmaceutical companies Novo Nordisk and Lilly to stay ahead of competing competitors to bring their own weight loss drugs to market. Novo has already secured a win by demonstrating the cardiac benefits of semaglutide, expanding Wegovy’s label to reflect this. Ultimately, such data will also make it increasingly difficult for insurers to continue denying patients coverage for expensive drugs. The continued reluctance of health plans and employers to cover expensive drugs is significant and increasing theme for companies as the treatments have skyrocketed in popularity.
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Further reading
