A new weight-loss drug could facilitate the same changes that Ozempic and Wegovy brought to thousands of Americans, without the unpleasant side effects.
Researchers at Syracuse University have developed a molecule that activates the same receptors in the brain as two well-known drugs. An obese mouse exposed to it lost 12% of his weight in just 16 days.
In addition to its weight loss ability, there were also no symptoms.
The team hopes that this molecule, named GEP44 by the researchers, could form the basis of a highly effective weight-loss treatment with limited drawbacks in the future.
If successful, the team will also have a large market. His GLP-1 treatments, including Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro, have sold out in recent years as many doctors see them as the silver bullet to combat America’s obesity crisis.
“Obesity and diabetes were pandemics before the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Robert Doyle, principal investigator of the Syracuse study.
“They are massive problems and are projected to only get worse.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 70% of Americans are overweight and 40% are obese.
In recent years, deaths from overweight-related diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and heart disease have also increased.
This has made finding a pharmaceutical cure for obesity a potential cash cow for major pharmaceutical brands.
Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk has had great success with its type 2 diabetes drug semaglutide. Originally sold under the name Ozempic.
This drug is GLP-1 and mimics the effects of hormones naturally produced in the human stomach and pancreas.
These hormones send signals to the brain that there is no need to eat, making a person less hungry and less hungry.
It also delays stomach emptying and increases the amount of insulin secreted by the pancreas.
As a result, many patients also experience significant weight loss.
This has spurred Novo to repackage semaglutide as a drug specifically targeting obesity.
Ozempic’s successor, Wegovy, received Food and Drug Administration approval in 2021.
Everyone from the average obese American to Hollywood’s elite tried to get their hands on it, making it so popular that it was in short supply for much of 2022.
Tech mogul Elon Mash praised Wegoby for his drastic body transformation last year.
However, the drug has strong side effects. Nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, fatigue, and headaches are typical of Wegovy users.
“For a long time, I didn’t think you could separate weight loss from nausea and vomiting, because nausea and vomiting are linked to the exact same part of the brain,” says Dr. Doyle.
In their study, presented at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring Meeting this week, Dr. Doyle’s team tested the peptide against another Novo GLP-1 drug, liraglutide.
They have developed peptides (molecules containing multiple amino acids) that trigger the GLP-1 receptor in the brain and the peptide YY receptor in the brain.
They injected a group of mice with the newly formed peptide GEP44, and another with the diabetes drug liraglutide, marketed under the name Victoza.
Mice exposed to the peptide experienced an 80% reduction in food intake, demonstrating its ability to suppress appetite.
Over the course of the study, rodents on Victoza lost only one-third as much weight as the other groups.
In addition to its remarkable efficacy, mice injected with GEP44 showed no side effects.
This treatment has also been shown to lower blood sugar levels by allowing glucose to enter muscle tissue where it can be used as fuel, and by converting certain cells in the pancreas into insulin-producing cells.
This helps replace what has been damaged by diabetes.
People who used Novo’s drug experienced symptoms similar to those expected after exposure to GLP-1.
Dr. Doyle explained that reducing these side effects could be a major factor in the viability of this peptide as a main ingredient in weight loss drugs.
“80-90% of people who start using these drugs stop taking them within a year,” he explained.
The team next plans to test GEP44 in primates to ultimately determine its suitability for weight loss in humans.
