Tirzepatide cut progression to type 2 diabetes by 94% over three years

In adults with pre-diabetes who were living with obesity or overweight, weekly tirzepatide reduced the risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes by 94% against placebo. At the 15 mg dose, participants lost an average of 22.9% of their body weight, compared with 2.1% in the control arm.

SURMOUNT-1 followed 1,032 adults through 176 weeks on treatment and a 17-week stretch off it, 193 weeks in all, with the lower doses landing at 15.4% and 19.9% of body weight for 5 mg and 10 mg. Tirzepatide acts on the GIP and GLP-1 receptors and is sold as Mounjaro for diabetes and Zepbound for obesity. The earlier 72-week analysis ran in the New England Journal of Medicine; these numbers arrived first as a company release and have not yet been through that review.

What happened after the injections stopped matters as much as the 94%. Across those 17 weeks people who came off the drug began regaining weight and saw some increase in progression to type 2 diabetes, which frames the finding as one about staying on rather than finishing a course. Whether that trade is worth making for any particular person belongs with a qualified clinician who knows their health history.

Read the full story at Fierce Pharma ↗

Retatrutide is investigational and is not FDA-approved. Other medicines referenced here are covered as third-party news for educational awareness only. Catalyst does not present this information as medical advice, treatment guidance, or a claim of safety, efficacy, or approval.