OSA患者在睡眠时会短暂停止呼吸，干扰睡眠周期，并可能引发心脏疾病等长期并发症。这种疾病在全球范围内影响大约10亿人。该疾病目前的常见治疗方法包括使用CPAP机器（睡眠时佩戴面罩）、手术以及减肥。The USA FDA approved Eli Lilly and Co's weight loss drug Zepbound for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on Friday, making it the first approved drug to directly treat this common sleep disorder; The active ingredient of Zepbound is Tirzepatide, which was originally used to treat type 2 diabetes, specifically Eli Lilly's Mounjaro.
On December 22, the Financial Associated Press reported (edited by Xia Junxiong) that on Friday (December 20), the USA Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved $Eli Lilly and Co (LLY.US)$ the company's weight-loss pharmaceutical Zepbound for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), making it the first approved drug to directly treat this common sleep disorder.
According to Eli Lilly and Co, Zepbound has been approved for the treatment of adults with moderate to severe OSA who are obese, and in clinical trials, nearly half of moderate to severe OSA patients had their symptoms completely disappear after using Zepbound.
Patients with OSA may experience short pauses in breathing during sleep, disrupting the sleep cycle, and potentially leading to long-term complications such as heart disease. This condition affects approximately 1 billion people globally. Current common treatments include the use of CPAP machines (wearing masks during sleep), surgery, and weight loss.
"OSA is often simply dismissed as 'just snoring,' but the reality is far more complex," said Julie Flygare, CEO of the non-profit organization Project Sleep.
With the FDA's approval, Zepbound will become the first prescription drug for adults targeting moderate to severe OSA and obesity.
The active ingredient of Zepbound is Tirzepatide, which was initially used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, that is Eli Lilly's Mounjaro.
Tirzepatide and Semaglutide are currently the two most popular GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) weight loss Pharmaceuticals. Semaglutide also has two products, namely the diabetes Pharmaceutical Ozempic and the weight loss Pharmaceutical Wegovy. $Novo-Nordisk A/S (NVO.US)$
Like Eli Lilly and Co, Novo-Nordisk A/S is also testing the efficacy of its weight loss drugs in various other diseases to prove that they have additional health benefits. Novo-Nordisk A/S has applied to the FDA for approval of Wegovy for the treatment of chronic kidney disease.
Analysts predict that by 2030, the annual sales of the global weight loss drug market will exceed 100 billion USD.
Earlier this month, Eli Lilly and Co announced the results of a sponsored comparative trial. The results showed that Zepbound has a better weight loss effect than Wegovy.
Recently, Novo-Nordisk A/S has faced a series of negative news, in addition to losing to a competitor in a direct comparative trial, another study confirmed that Ozempic is associated with an increased risk of a rare vision loss disease.
Also on Friday, Novo-Nordisk A/S announced that its next-generation weight loss drug CagriSema did not meet expectations, leading to a nearly 18% drop in its US stock price on that day.
Editor/jadyen
