The results of the third phase of clinical trials revealed the effectiveness of the drug "Retatrotide" in improving control of blood sugar levels and helping with weight loss in patients with type 2 diabetes.
These results bolster hopes for a new treatment option that combines disease control and weight reduction simultaneously.
The study included adults with type 2 diabetes who had never used medication to treat the disease, and whose blood sugar levels were not controlled by diet and physical activity alone.
Retatrotide is administered as a once-weekly injection and works differently from most currently available medications. It targets three key receptors responsible for regulating metabolism: GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon. This combined effect helps lower blood sugar levels, reduce appetite, and increase the body's energy expenditure, which may explain its ability to produce greater weight loss.
The study results showed that after 40 weeks of treatment, the level of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), an indicator that reflects the average blood sugar level during the previous months, decreased by an average of 1.7 to 1.9 percentage points in participants who received retarotide, compared to a decrease of 0.8 percentage points in the group that received a placebo.
Participants who used the drug also lost between 11.5 and 15.3% of their weight on average, compared to only 2.6% in the placebo group.
The study recorded side effects in the form of gastrointestinal disturbances, such as nausea and diarrhea, which were mostly mild to moderate and gradually subsided as treatment continued.
The researchers noted that the results confirm the promising therapeutic potential of retatrotide, especially for patients who need better control of diabetes with greater weight loss, stressing that additional clinical trials and long-term follow-up studies are still underway to assess the drug's safety and effectiveness before it is approved for widespread use.
The results were published in Te Lancet journal.
