New drugs against obesity
Obesity is associated with serious comorbidities, such as type 2 diabetes, fatty liver, cardiovascular diseases, increased risk of malignancies, while significantly reducing the duration and quality of life of a person.
Our country is already first in childhood obesity and ranks among the first in adult obesity, with over 60% of adults being overweight or obese. Despite this, many patients do not receive the treatment they need. The lack of insurance coverage and cost issues are an additional aggravating factor that creates obstacles to the treatment of obesity.
Significant research on the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying obesity has led to the discovery of several promising drug targets and novel therapeutic strategies to address the global obesity epidemic and its comorbidities. Current drug options for the management of obesity are largely limited, therefore, the need for safer and more effective new agents is urgent.
The drugs approved in our country for the treatment of obesity in combination with a healthy diet intervention are orlistat, the combination of naltrexone/bupropion and liraglutide at 3mg. Recently, semaglutide (a GLP-1 analogue) administered once weekly subcutaneously and can lead to weight loss of up to 15% when combined with lifestyle changes.
According to the New England Journal of Medicine, tirzepatide, an unapproved obesity drug, has shown impressive results in clinical trials, helping obese people lose about 25% of their body weight in 72 weeks. The main side effects were mainly gastrointestinal.
As our understanding of obesity improves, the need for more effective anti-obesity treatments is being highlighted, including new drug delivery systems, vaccines, gut microbiome modification, and gene therapy. New drugs are being tested and are expected to lead to significant weight loss with fewer side effects.
