Promising New Weight-Loss Drugs on the Horizon: Potential to Outperform Current Medications and Rival Bariatric Surgery

There are some exciting new weight-loss drugs being developed that might work even better than current ones like Ozempic and Mounjaro. A drug in testing by Eli Lilly might help people lose nearly a quarter of their body weight in less than a year!

These new medicines could change the way we treat obesity, making it more like treating high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Instead of mainly relying on diet and exercise, people might take a prescription drug. These drugs could even compete with weight loss surgeries, which help people lose about one-third of their body weight.

The new drugs work by copying hormones in your gut that help you feel full and eat less. Some of these new drugs are copying more than one hormone to try and increase their effect. For example, Lilly's new drug copies three gut hormones. Researchers believe this might help people burn more energy and lose more weight. It might also help reduce fat in the liver, which can be a problem for people with obesity.

In a recent test, Lilly's drug helped people lose up to 24% of their body weight, or an average of 58 pounds, in about a year. This is more than the weight loss seen with other drugs like Wegovy, which helps people lose about 17% of their body weight, and Mounjaro, which helps people lose up to 22.5% of their body weight.

The new drug also helped lower "bad" cholesterol and blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 diabetes. It also reduced liver fat in people with a certain type of liver disease. There were some side effects, though, like stomach problems.

If further tests go well, this drug could be available as early as 2026. Other companies are also working on new weight-loss drugs, so we could see even more options in the future.

Insilico Medicine Begins Mid-Stage Trials of AI-Designed Drug for Lung Disease

Insilico Medicine, a biotech company supported by Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group and private equity firm Warburg Pincus, has started mid-stage human trials of a drug that was discovered and designed entirely by artificial intelligence (AI). The drug, known as INS018_055, is being tested as a treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a type of lung disease. This is the first time an AI-designed drug has reached this stage of clinical trials.

The company's founder, Alex Zhavoronkov, believes their AI technology could double the productivity of big pharmaceutical companies. Insilico's AI can quickly analyze large amounts of data to identify potential drug targets (proteins related to specific diseases) and design molecules that could be turned into medicine. The AI might even cut the time needed to discover new drugs in half, reducing the cost of bringing a new drug to market.

Other biotech companies have also been using AI to discover and develop new drugs, some of which have progressed to clinical trials. But it's important to note that AI-discovered drugs are not guaranteed to be successful. Despite this, interest in AI for drug development remains high. Every major pharmaceutical company has partnered with at least one AI company to explore the potential of this technology.

Insilico, which has offices in Hong Kong and New York, has raised over $400 million from investors. So far, it has used its AI to select 12 potential drugs, with three of them advancing to clinical trials. The company decided to conduct the clinical trials for its lung disease drug on its own, in order to retain control over the process and continue improving its AI.

The first trials of INS018_055 were carried out in New Zealand and China, and the results were promising enough to support a phase 2 trial. This next stage will involve 60 people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in China and the US. The goal is to assess the drug's safety, effectiveness, and how well it's tolerated by patients.

Daily Low-Dose Aspirin Could Increase Anemia Risk in Seniors, New Study Finds

Many older adults in the United States take aspirin daily to avoid heart problems and strokes. However, a new study shows that this daily habit of taking a small amount of aspirin could actually increase the chances of them developing anemia.

The study found that people who are 70 years old or older and take aspirin every day have a more than 20% higher chance of getting anemia. Anemia is a condition where your body doesn't have enough healthy red blood cells, and it can make you feel tired and weak.

Dr. Zoe McQuilten, who led the study and is a blood disease specialist at Monash University in Australia, pointed out that this finding is important because anemia can lead to fatigue and a decline in overall function in older adults.

Some well-known organizations, like the American Heart Association and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, have previously recommended taking a small dose of aspirin every day. But recent research has shown that doing so can also increase the risk of dangerous bleeding, and so the recommendations have changed.

In this study, the researchers looked at data from an earlier clinical trial where over 19,000 people aged 70 or older were randomly chosen to take either a placebo (a pill with no medicine in it) or 100 milligrams of aspirin every day.

They found that the people who took the aspirin had almost a 24% chance of developing anemia within five years, which was higher than the group that took the placebo. The aspirin group also had less iron in their blood, which is needed to make a protein called hemoglobin that carries oxygen in your blood.

This study was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on June 20.

Rapid Increase in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Cases Over the Past Three Decades, Poses Public Health Threat

Research presented at a meeting of the Endocrine Society indicates that cases of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have been dramatically increasing over the last 30 years, posing a serious threat to public health. NAFLD is a condition where too much fat builds up in the liver, causing inflammation and damage. This disease is connected to a number of health issues such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

While anyone can get NAFLD, it's more common in Hispanic Americans, especially Mexican Americans. But the numbers are going up fast among white Americans too. Over the last 30 years, their rates have gone up by 133%, compared to the rate of increase in Mexican Americans.

The study, which involved tens of thousands of adult participants, found that more than a third of them developed a type of NAFLD associated with metabolic disorders. One of the researchers said this disease often comes from eating unhealthy food and not exercising enough.

Experts also think that people who carry more weight around their belly, rather than their hips, are more likely to get this disease. NAFLD is the most common cause of liver disease in the U.S. and can lead to serious problems like cirrhosis and liver cancer if it's not treated. The good news is, NAFLD can be reversed with lifestyle changes like exercising more and losing weight.

People with NAFLD often don't have any symptoms in the early stages. If symptoms do appear, they can include feeling tired, and having pain or discomfort in the upper right part of their belly.