An experimental drug developed by US biotech firm Veru Inc. has shown promising results in preventing muscle loss in patients taking Novo Nordisk’s popular weight-loss drug, Wegovy, Bloomberg reports.
Initial findings from a clinical trial indicate that Veru’s treatment, enobosarm, significantly reduced lean mass loss compared to Wegovy alone.
According to Veru, patients who received enobosarm alongside Wegovy experienced a 71% reduction in lean mass loss after 16 weeks, compared to those taking Wegovy and a placebo. This breakthrough addresses a key concern associated with rapid weight loss induced by drugs like Wegovy, which can often lead to an unhealthy loss of muscle mass.
The results of the mid-stage trial, involving 168 patients over 60 years old, were released on Monday. The study also found that patients taking enobosarm and Wegovy experienced greater fat-mass loss, even though they didn’t lose more weight overall. Two doses of enobosarm were tested, but the higher dose did not offer any additional benefit over the lower dose in preserving muscle mass.
The news initially caused a surge in Veru’s stock price, jumping by as much as 36% in premarket trading. However, those gains were short-lived, and the stock later plummeted, falling by as much as 38%. The volatility underscores the intense market interest and the high stakes involved in developing treatments to mitigate the side effects of obesity drugs.
Rapid weight loss through medications like Wegovy poses the risk of unhealthy muscle loss and, if patients regain weight after stopping the medication, a greater proportion of that weight may return as fat. Veru is among several companies racing to address this issue, which has become increasingly relevant as more people turn to these blockbuster weight-loss drugs.
Veru reported that the enobosarm treatment was well-tolerated with a 13% dropout rate. It also did not increase gastro-intestinal side effects, a common complaint with weight-loss medications.
