Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug Zepbound has been shown to “significantly reduce” obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in adults with obesity, the company said Wednesday.
Injections of tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Zepbound, reduced sleep apnea severity by up to 63% in adults with obesity and moderate to severe OSA compared to those taking a placebo, according to two phase 3 clinical trials.
OSA, a common sleep-related breathing disorder that often goes undiagnosed, happens when there’s a partial or complete collapse of a patient’s upper airway during sleep, a condition that can potentially lead to a decrease in oxygen saturation.
If untreated, OSA can contribute to conditions such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure, atrial fibrillation and diabetes.
“OSA impacts 80 million adults in the U.S., with more than 20 million living with moderate-to-severe OSA. However, 85% of OSA cases go undiagnosed and therefore untreated,” Jeff Emmick, Eli Lilly’s senior VP for product development, said in a statement.
Data compiled by the National Council of Aging paints a slightly different picture, estimating that approximately 39 million adults in the country live with the disorder — but only 6 million of them have officially been diagnosed.
According to Emmick, “addressing this unmet need head-on is critical,” noting tirzepatide has the “potential to be the first pharmaceutical treatment for the underlying disease.”
Researchers looked at data from two different clinical studies — one in which patients were not on positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy, and another in which they were — and analyzed how many times per hour of sleep a person experienced a “restricted or complete block of airflow.”
After 52 weeks, those not on PAP saw an average reduction of 27.4 events per hour, compared to a reduction of 4.8 events per hour for people on the placebo group.
Those on PAP therapy saw a reduction of 30.4 events per hour, against 6 events per hour for those taking a placebo.
Findings and additional details of the studies, which have not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal, will be presented at the American Diabetes Association conference in June, the company said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Zepbound injection for chronic weight management in adults with obesity in November, just over two years after the approval of the weight loss drug Wegovy, a higher-dose version of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes medication Ozempic.
