Zepbound.Photo:Eli Lilly
Eli Lilly
The Food and Drug Administration has approved another medication to treat chronic obesity in adults.
The agencyannouncedWednesday that the new weight loss drug Zepbound — from pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly — is another version ofMounjaro, which is already FDA-approved to treat Type 2 diabetes, but many have used it off-label for weight loss.
“Obesity and overweight are serious conditions that can be associated with some of the leading causes of death such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes,” Dr. John Sharretts — director of the Division of Diabetes, Lipid Disorders, and Obesity in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research — said in a statement. “In light of increasing rates of both obesity and overweight in the United States, today’s approval addresses an unmet medical need.”
Preparation for Ozempic injection.Getty
Getty
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The FDA notes that Zepbound will be approved for those whose body mass index (BMI) — awidely criticized standard— is 30 or greater, qualifying them as obese. The drug will also be approved for those with a BMI of 27 with at least one weight-related condition, such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes or high cholesterol.
Zepbound and Mounjaro are similar toOzempicandWegovy— brand names for semaglutide — which work in the brain to impact satiety and have skyrocketed in popularity in Hollywood and beyond for weight loss.
source: people.com
