Are we witnessing a turning point in the fight against obesity? After decades of failures in developing effective treatments, the arrival of a new generation of drugs, which displays particularly promising clinical results (15% to 20% weight loss on average), has generated great enthusiasm among patients in recent years. To the point that their manufacturers, overwhelmed by orders, are struggling to meet demand, despite factories running at full capacity.
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With over a billion people worldwide suffering from obesity, including 890 million adults, these treatments have no shortage of potential customers. Especially since these figures continue to grow. In the space of thirty years, the obesity rate has more than doubled among adults and quadrupled among children and adolescents. A godsend for the Danish Novo Nordisk and the American Lilly, the pharmaceutical laboratories behind Wegovy and Zepbound, these new anti-obesity drugs that are so sought after. Moreover, the manufacturers have not had to make much effort to popularize their products. On social networks, euphoric anonymous people, with viral photos before and after treatment, have taken it upon themselves to promote them. As have celebrities, like Elon Musk or Oprah Winfrey, who sing their praises.
Available only by prescription, Wegovy and Zepbound (called “Mounjaro” in Europe) come in the form of pre-filled injection pens, which patients self-administer on a weekly basis, similar to the solutions available in the treatment of diabetes. The coincidence is not fortuitous. They are both part of the family of GLP-1 analogues, which includes semaglutide and tirzepatide, their respective active ingredients, already used for several years as antidiabetics due to their blood sugar-regulating properties.
“A solid scientific basis”
Because while these products, which also slow gastric emptying and increase the feeling of satiety, are all the rage among obese patients today, they are far from new. The very first GLP-1 analogue, exenatide, was marketed by the American company Lilly in 2005 for the management of diabetes.
In 2014, liraglutide (Saxenda) was the first in this class of drugs to gain approval for the treatment of obesity. “They have since been widely used and already have numerous studies which attest to a solid scientific basis, even if we are still very far from having exhausted all the knowledge on the subject”observes epidemiologist Mahmoud Zureik, head of Epi-Phare, the public agency that measures the effectiveness and safety of drugs.
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