Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Eli Lilly's Retatrutide Shows Significant Weight Loss Potential In Trial
The Hill: Move Over, Mounjaro: New Eli Lilly Drug Lost Patients 24 Percent Of Their Weight In Trials
A new Eli Lilly experimental drug has helped patients lose 24 percent of their weight, according to new mid-stage clinical trial results. The results, released on Monday, followed 338 adults, nearly 52 percent of whom were men, who were obese or overweight and had either received Eli Lilly’s retatrutide injection or a placebo treatment. (Oshin, 6/26)
USA Today: 'The Future Is Accessibility' Pills For Weight Loss To Soon Replace Injectables Like Wegovy
The next major innovation coming to weight-loss drugs will be pills with the effectiveness of injectables at potentially far lower costs. Medications have finally been able to offer the kind of weight loss only seen before with bariatric surgery. But these drugs have several shortcomings, including the lack of long-term safety and effectiveness data, the need for weekly injections and current price tags, which top $1,000 a month and often aren't covered by insurance. (Weintraub, 6/26)
Also —
Los Angeles Times: Compressing Your Eating Day Is As Effective As Counting Calories, Study Finds
If you’re trying to lose weight and you’re sick of watching what you eat, researchers have some good news: You can watch the clock instead. In a yearlong study, people who didn’t change what they ate — but ate it all between noon and 8 p.m. — achieved significant, sustained weight loss that was comparable to people who paid close attention to their food choices in order to cut their daily calories by 25%. (Errico, 6/26)
Stat: Can Medical Device Makers Keep Up In The Race To Treat Obesity?
The makers of minimally invasive surgical devices seemed poised to capture a wide swath of the obesity treatment market. Patients needed an option that lay between the two treatment extremes: cutting open the abdomen to perform permanent bariatric surgery, or changing your diet or exercise routine. Then, a new class of weight loss medications that successfully mimic the feeling of fullness hit the market, and the landscape changed. (Lawrence, 6/27)
