Callum Jones
The first trial of a new monthly weight loss jab has provided intriguing results compared to that of Wegovy and Mounjaro.
Mounjaro is one of many brands that work to lower blood sugar levels to treat diabetic people, though people hoping to lose weight can also take advantage of the drug, as it's now been approved as a weight loss treatment.
Wegovy, a fellow GLP-1 drug, has also been approved for weight loss by the US Food and Drug Administration, but it is only recommended to those with obesity or who are overweight with additional risks for cardiovascular disease.
There's now another weight loss drug in town in the form of MariTide - though it certainly has some differences compared to the likes of Mounjaro and Wegovy.
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MariTide contains a monoclonal antibody, which is said to help the drug stay in the body longer - meaning users can take it monthly rather than weekly.
As per NBC News Dr. Michelle Ponder, an assistant professor of medicine at Duke University School of Medicine, North Carolina, said: "It’s always just easier for patients to only have to take something once per month. A lot of patients we see in endocrinology are diabetes patients, and so they’d be taking multiple shots of insulin per day. And so, every last shot matters, even if it’s three less shots per month."
A subsequent trial on the new weight loss drug involved 600 participants who were split into two groups: those with Type 2 diabetes and obesity, and people with obesity alone.
Participants received one of three doses of MariTide or a placebo, each of which were taken once a month for an entire year.
And the trial remarkably found that those who with obesity alone who got MariTide lost up to 20 percent over a period of 52 weeks.
That was compared to just a 2.6 percent drop in the placebo group, while the same also applied for those involved with the study who have diabetes.
Those who got MariTide dropped 17 percent of their body weight, as participants taking placebo lost just 1.4 percent, on average.
Jay Bradner, M.D., executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen and individual responsibly for the study, said: "MariTide delivered strong efficacy, including sustained weight loss without a plateau in the 52-week Phase 2 study and meaningful improvements in cardiometabolic risk factors, representing a defining advance for the obesity field.
"These results, alongside the Phase 1 Pharmacokinetics Low Dose Initiation data, have shaped our Phase 3 MARITIME program.
"MariTide's monthly or less frequent dosing has the potential to improve adherence and long-term weight control, providing the opportunity to optimize health outcomes for people living with obesity, Type 2 diabetes and related conditions."