Retatrutide obesity drug trial shows up to 25% weight loss in patients

Clinical Trial Results Published

Researchers published late-stage clinical trial data for retatrutide, an obesity drug. The results, appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine, indicate that patients with obesity on the highest dose lost an average of 25% of their body weight after 80 weeks. An average of 30% weight loss was observed after an extended period of 104 weeks. More than a third of participants taking retatrutide lost 30% or more of their weight overall.

Additional Health Benefits

Beyond weight reduction, the drug demonstrated effectiveness in reducing knee pain by up to 62% in participants with obesity-linked knee osteoarthritis. It also reduced the number of sleep apnea events per hour by up to 57% in those with obesity-linked obstructive sleep apnea. Cardiometabolic measurements, including blood pressure, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, showed improvement across the board. Prediabetes, present in over a third of trial participants at the start, resolved in more than 90% of those individuals by the trial's conclusion.

Trial Structure and Participants

The trial, which began in 2023, involved 2,339 participants across 131 clinical trial sites in 11 countries. Participants were divided into four groups receiving either 4 mg, 9 mg, 12 mg of retatrutide, or a placebo. The average starting weight for all groups was approximately 113 kg (250 pounds), with an average body mass index (BMI) of 40. Sub-analyses included 574 participants with knee osteoarthritis and 243 with obstructive sleep apnea.