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SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 12 – Amgen’s experimental obesity drug, MariTide, is showing promise not only in helping individuals shed notable weight but also in maintaining that loss long-term, while concurrently lowering blood sugar levels in patients with Type 2 diabetes.
Maintaining Weight Loss & New hope for Diabetics
The findings, unveiled Monday at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, suggest a potential breakthrough in obesity and diabetes treatment.
- MariTide helped overweight or obese patients lose up to 20% of their body weight in a 52-week study.
- An extension study demonstrated that a “large majority” of patients maintained weight loss with lower monthly or quarterly doses.
- A 24-week trial showed robust reductions in HbA1c and weight in individuals with Type 2 diabetes.
- The drug utilizes a unique approach, activating GLP-1 while blocking GIP receptors.
Amgen initially reported in June that MariTide enabled overweight or obese patients to lose as much as 20% of their body weight over 52 weeks. However, many experienced gastrointestinal side effects, such as vomiting. Future trials will begin with lower doses that are gradually increased, the company stated.
The extension study focused on patients who had already achieved at least a 15% weight loss. These individuals were randomly assigned to receive different doses of MariTide or a placebo for an additional 52 weeks. Amgen reported that a substantial proportion of those receiving either a lower monthly dose or a quarterly dose successfully maintained their initial weight loss.
The second year of treatment with MariTide proved to be well-tolerated, even at quarterly doses, with a low incidence of nausea and vomiting and no new safety concerns identified, according to the company.
“Other people are clamoring to develop once-monthly or less frequent dose medicines, and we are unambiguously in the lead there,” declared Jay Bradner, Amgen’s head of research and development, on Monday.
Currently, popular weight-loss medications like Zepbound from Eli Lilly and Wegovy from Novo Nordisk require weekly injections. MariTide’s potential for less frequent dosing could offer a significant advantage for patients.
A separate 24-week study involving individuals with Type 2 diabetes who were overweight or obese revealed that monthly MariTide treatment led to significant and clinically meaningful reductions in both HbA1c – a key measure of blood sugar control – and overall weight.
While Wegovy works by targeting receptors for the appetite- and blood-sugar-regulating hormone GLP-1, and Zepbound stimulates both GLP-1 and another gut hormone called GIP, Amgen’s MariTide employs a different strategy. It’s an antibody linked to two peptides that activate the GLP-1 receptor while simultaneously blocking the GIP receptor.
Amgen is currently conducting multiple Phase 3 trials of MariTide, including a 72-week study evaluating three different doses in obes
Did you know?-MariTide uniquely blocks the GIP receptor while activating GLP-1, differing from existing drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound which stimulate both.
Pro tip-Lower-dose, less frequent maritide management (monthly or quarterly) showed promising weight loss maintenance in an extension study.
