A daily pill from Wegovy maker shows promise and other news I’m reading on weight loss drugs

Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound: Blockbuster weight loss drugs have been arguably the biggest health story of the last several years — and there are no signs their popularity will slow down anytime soon, especially with the prospect of a daily pill form on the horizon. Millions of Americans have taken the drugs, known collectively as GLP-1 agonist medications. Their potential benefits, well beyond treating obesity and diabetes, continue to mount as research pours in. But so do concerns over everything from cost to rare but life-threatening risks.

As a health journalist, I’m doing my best to keep up with all things weight loss drugs, but with headlines rolling in every day, it’s not easy! If you’re trying to stay on top of the latest, consider this your quick reference guide.

1. We’ve learned more about how these drugs work

The thing that really fascinates me about these medications is what they’re teaching us about how intertwined our brain, metabolism and cardiac health are. Speaking of — in August, a clinical trial showed that GLP-1 drugs don’t just make fullness last longer, they actually increase metabolism. That’s huge because it means the drugs aren’t just facilitating weight loss, they’re changing how people’s bodies process food. [Newsweek]

2. A daily pill form looks promising in trials

Participants in a clinical trial of an oral form of a GLP-1 drug lost up to 13% of their body weight over just three months, according to results presented by drugmaker Novo Nordisk in early September. That's about twice as much weight loss as patients have seen in the same amount of time while taking injection forms of similar drugs. Dr. Susan Spratt, an endocrinologist and the senior medical director for the Population Health Management Office at Duke Health, went so far as to compare it to a "miracle pill," NBC News reported. That's the exciting news ... the bad news is that this was just a phase 1 clinical trial — which tests a drug's safety – and the pill won't move into the final round of testing until next year at the earliest. [NBC News]

3. The drugs appear to have benefits beyond weight loss

Not only does tirzepatide (the active ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound) help control blood sugar and increase the pancreas’s production of insulin for people with diabetes, but it also reduces the risk of developing the chronic condition in the first place — by a whopping 94%, according to new research on Eli Lilly’s drugs. That’s great news, but not hugely surprising considering that the medications were approved by the Food and Drug Administration specifically for fighting diabetes and obesity. What is surprising is how many other benefits the drugs seem to have. People taking Wegovy are 33% less likely to die of COVID-19, one study found. In fact, those taking GLP-1 weight loss medications were less likely than others to die from all manner of causes, including cardiovascular disease. Semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy) “has far-reaching benefits beyond what we initially imagined,” Dr. Harlan Krumholz, a cardiologist at Yale School of Medicine, said at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2024. Could these drugs keep people healthier and younger for longer? Researchers seem to think so. “It wouldn’t surprise me that improving people’s health this way actually slows down the aging process,” Krumholz said. [BBC]

4. But they’re not without potential risks

Amid all the promising research, one alarming story also caught my eye: A woman is alleging that taking Wegovy and Ozempic caused part of her colon to “die.” Juanita Gantt had to have her colon removed, now has an ileostomy bag and is suing the drugmaker, Novo Nordisk. We can’t say for sure whether the drug caused her complications, but Ozempic can cause life-threatening intestinal blockages. The FDA last year added a warning about the rare but serious risk to Ozempic’s label.

Another recent study raised concerns about a link between weight loss drugs such as Ozempic and an increased risk of suicide. However, experts are skeptical and U.K. regulators ruled that there wasn’t a conclusive connection after a yearlong safety data review. [CBS News and Reuters]

5. Cost is still a major issue. Both patients and drugmakers are trying to solve it.

The list price for a month’s supply of Ozempic is nearly $1,000 (although some insurance plans may cover the medication at no or little cost). High prices for semaglutide and other weight loss drugs have led some patients to break open their injection pens to stretch their supplies. In an attempt to offer a lower-cost option (and likely to dissuade patients from seeking other suppliers’ cheaper compounded drugs), Eli Lilly is offering a version of its drug Zepbound that could save patients up to 50%. The catch? They’ll have to buy their own syringes and draw the drug from a vial to inject themselves instead of using the costly but convenient injector pen that full-price Zepbound comes in. [The Atlantic and Futurism]

6. Shortages are ongoing while drugmakers try to combat compounded GLP-1s

Novo Nordisk, maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, said the drugs will likely continue to be in short supply for the remainder of the year. Meanwhile, Eli Lilly has said that shortages of its drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro will soon be over. Eli Lilly’s new plan for distributing Zepbound in vials may help to alleviate supply strain too. The company is also going to court to try to stop compounding pharmacies from making cheaper copies of its drugs, which is only legal amid shortages. Will all of this help people get their hands on the drugs or make it even harder? We’ll see. [Washington Post]