GLP-1 drugs revolutionize obesity and diabetes care and make exciting progress on the horizon

In an interview with PharmacyTimes®MD Donna Ryan, Professor Emelita of the Pennington Center for Biomedical Research in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, discusses the current landscape of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and the dual role in diabetes and obesity treatment It emphasizes. Ryan has put an overview of the currently approved GLP-1 on the market. This has many benefits beyond weight management, such as semaglutide (Ozenpic, Wegoby, Novonordisk), tilzepatide (Munjaro, Elirily), and cardiac risk control and chronic chronic measurements. Kidney disease.

The closed captions for this video were automatically generated by artificial intelligence.

The age of pharmacies: Could you give us a brief overview of the current landscape of GLP-1 drugs?

Donna Ryan, Maryland: As you know, everyone thinks GLP-1 drugs are brand new and extremely exciting. Well, they're very exciting. But please tell me: We have been taking GLP-1 medication for 20 years. In fact, the first one was approved for diabetes in 2005. It was exenatide (Byetta; Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly). The first was approved in 2014 for obesity. It was Liraglutide (Victosa, Saxenda, Novo Nordisk). Therefore, these are the medicines we have known for a long time. However, native GLP-1, a hormone in our body, affects appetite and also affects blood glucose control. High blood sugar levels promote and lower insulin secretion. This drug is actually being developed in two major areas for diabetes and obesity. But let's take a look. No one was interested until around 2022 when semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy; Novo Nordisk) came out. Semaglutide was a few years ago as an ozempic for diabetes and was approved as Wegovy for obesity. Data from people who do not suffer from diabetes show weight loss ranging from about 15% to 17%, much higher than previously taken with obesity medications. This is an average weight loss of 15-17%. After that, tilzepatide (Zepbound, Mounjaro; Eli Lilly) came out. It is both GLP-1 and gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) receptor agonists. Therefore, they collide with two of their intestinal hormones. What's important about that was that it was related to an average weight loss of 22.5%. This double digit weight loss was really interesting to the public, but I think it was the doctors who really became interested in 2023 when the selected trial was announced. This drug has shown that it can prevent a second heart attack, stroke, or sudden death in people with established cardiovascular disease. It's called the second preventive trial and was a real big deal because I'd never seen anything like that before using obesity medication. It's a combination of both the amount of weight loss the patient evaluates, the effect on disease modification, and the prevention of cardiovascular disease, and it's really exciting for everyone.

Currently, the drug that brings many weight loss to obese people is tilzepatide. In diabetes, the same molecules are the same as Ozempic and Munjaro. It's a bit confusing, but trust me, just 2 minutes of molecules are suitable for both diabetes and weight management. That's what we can use. There are still other old GLP-1 drugs. People aren't very interested in them because they don't cause so much weight loss and don't produce so much glycemic control, but they're still a good medicine.

The age of pharmacies: Are there any new expected research data or approved indications in the horizon or under development?

Ryan: First of all, let's take a look at some recent discoveries. You know, I think the discoveries that correct illnesses really capture the attention of people. Therefore, tilzepatide has labelled signs for obstructive sleep apnea. That really has a huge impact. It reduces the events of apnea paralysis that occur in people with obesity-related obstructive sleep apnea. That's the big news. However, clinical trial data also reveal that these drugs are effective in preventing heart failure (HF), especially HF, where excretion rates are preserved, and the progression of kidney disease. Many clinical trials have since been underway. Although there is no data yet, clinical trials are underway examining whether these drugs may be neuroinflammatory. Therefore, such as Parkinson's disease (PD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and dementia. That's very exciting. Even these drugs are interested in potential uses for smoking cessation and addiction disorders. There's still a lot I don't know about, but it's attracting a lot of attention.

I think everyone is really excited about the future of this class. What we're doing is adding agents to that GLP-1 backbone. It's not actually a structural backbone. It is merely an idea that GLP-1 has so many positive attributes. Well, adding this compound to it will give you even greater benefits. There are two major studies that everyone is very interested in, the combination of semaglutide and long-acting amylin. It is called cagrisema. We expect Phase 3 results to come out anytime. I'm very excited about that. And the other is what is called a single molecular triple agonist. As you know, tilzepatide was GLP-1 and GIP. Well, this molecule has three GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon. This is called a triple agonist and is also present in Phase 3. We would like to confirm these results as the Phase 2 data is expected to result in average weight loss in people in their 20s. These are very powerful medicines. I want to see what happens there.