Weight loss jabs could be dished out like statins
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, a medical director of NHS England, thinks the jabs will become cheaper in the future, and they will be used to lower people's risks of getting an illness.
His belief comes as it was recently revealed that weight loss jabs could cut the risk of obesity-related cancers.
Experts in Israel analysed data from 6,356 people - with around half of the volunteers having had bariatric surgery, which modifies the digestive system to lower food intake, and the rest took slimming jabs - and after an average follow-up of 7.5 years, 298 patients were found to have had obesity-related cancers.
Weight-loss jabs, or GLP-1-based medicines, such as tirzepatide - act like the glucose hormone GLP-1 by decreasing appetite and increasing feelings of fullness.
And researchers, who presented the findings - which are in the journal eClinicalMedicine - at the European Congress on Obesity in Malaga, Spain, said "new generation, highly potent GLP1-RAs with higher efficacy in weight reduction" such as Wegovy, can produce could result in an "even greater advantage" of reducing obesity-related cancers.
Prof Powis told The Sun newspaper: "I think, over time, it's highly likely they will become more widespread.
"I think there will be a combination of increased evidence of positive outcomes and cost dropping."
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The Age
6 days ago
- The Age
Ozempic in a pill? The next generation of weight-loss drugs emerges
'The development of GLP-1 and incretin-based drugs has revolutionised the space. It has carved out the biggest class of drugs ever. And it has the power to truly revolutionise our health-span,' said Associate Professor Garron Dodd, head of the Metabolic Neuroscience Research Laboratory at the University of Melbourne and founder of Gallant Bio, which is developing its own obesity drugs. 'It's a glorious dawn, but it's just the start.' Weight loss in a pill Much as our eyes and ears sense the world and send data to our brains, our digestive tracts need ways of sending back data on what they are eating, and how much. They do this, in part, by secreting various chemical signals – hormones. Glucagon-like peptide-1 is secreted by the intestines and triggers the pancreas to produce insulin. The first GLP-1 drugs took advantage of this to become powerful treatments for diabetes. But GLP-1 has much wider effects beyond blood-sugar control. Receptors for the hormone spread throughout the body, even in the brain, where they trigger a feeling of fullness and decrease appetite. A once-weekly dose of semaglutide, plus lifestyle changes, led volunteers in a phase 3 trial to lose 14.9 per cent of their body weight over 15 months. GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy essentially copy that human hormone. That makes them fragile. They need to be kept refrigerated, and injected subcutaneously rather than taken by mouth – as the stomach's acid would quickly break them down. An oral version of semaglutide has been developed, but only 1 per cent of the drug actually makes its way to the target receptors, and it appears less effective than the injectable version for weight loss. Loading Researchers at Japan's Chugai Pharmaceutical Co figured out a way around this problem. They designed a small molecule that can bind to the same receptor as GLP-1 and trigger it. It mimics the effect without mimicking the structure. 'It's a development I never would have thought feasible,' said Professor Michael Horowitz, a University of Adelaide researcher who authored a commentary on the drug in the Lancet. Chugai licensed the molecule to US-based Eli Lilly in 2018. Last week, the company reported participants on the highest dose in a clinical trial lost 7.9 per cent of their body weight over 40 weeks. The full details of the trial have not yet been reported, and whether the weight loss is maintained over the longer term is unclear. More than a quarter of patients reported diarrhoea, 16 per cent nausea and 14 per cent vomiting. The preliminary results are 'close enough to broadly call it similar' to semaglutide, said Professor Jonathan Shaw, who led the Australian arm of Lilly's trial at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne. 'I don't think we can confidently say it's better or worse. It's definitely in the same ballpark.' It's also not known if the drug will offer the range of other benefits that GLP-1 inhibitors provide in addition to weight loss, like reductions in cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's risk (and maybe even addictive behaviours). Horowitz said the efficacy data was promising, but he wanted to see more information about adverse effects, which he said were understated generally across semaglutide trials because they relied on patients to report their own side effects. 'It hasn't served the interests of pharma to quantify how well this is tolerated.' Pfizer was developing a similar once-daily GLP-1 pill but cancelled the program in April after a patient in a clinical trial suffered liver damage. A pill should, theoretically, be cheaper and easier to make than an injector – Novo Nordisk, maker of Wegovy and its diabetes drug antecedent Ozempic, has struggled to keep up with demand for semaglutide – and dramatically easier to transport. At present, the drug must be kept refrigerated right from European factories to a patient's home. 'That all adds to the cost,' said Shaw. There could also be cost benefits from increased competition as more drugs are approved – possibly pushing the price down far enough for governments to consider subsidising it. Lilly expects to apply for regulatory approval for the drug later this year. While orforglipron has attracted the most excitement – Eli Lilly's shares have surged since they announced the trial results – it is just one of several new drugs in late-stage development. These drugs might be of particular value to 15 per cent or so of people whose bodies do not seem to respond to semaglutide. And people don't seem to stay on the injectable drugs – less than half are still using them a year later, per a study 2024 study – despite the fact weight rebound is likely if you stop using them. 'Is it the injection? Is it the cost? Or is it due to adverse effects? We don't know,' said Horowitz. The new drugs might also offer weight-loss benefits. Mounjaro, for example, mimics both GLP-1 and the gastric inhibitory polypeptide, which increases metabolism and appears to lead to better weight-loss results. The new drugs, like Lilly's retatrutide, target even more receptors, with the hope of even greater effects. It's all good news for Rochelle McDonald. She does not mind taking a weekly injection – 'the stabby-stab' – now she's found ways of coping with the side effects. But paying $240 a month for her current dose of the medicine is 'a commitment in itself'. 'I think a daily pill would be good,' she said. 'If it comes in at a good price point.'
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Ozempic in a pill? The next generation of weight-loss drugs emerges
'The development of GLP-1 and incretin-based drugs has revolutionised the space. It has carved out the biggest class of drugs ever. And it has the power to truly revolutionise our health-span,' said Associate Professor Garron Dodd, head of the Metabolic Neuroscience Research Laboratory at the University of Melbourne and founder of Gallant Bio, which is developing its own obesity drugs. 'It's a glorious dawn, but it's just the start.' Weight loss in a pill Much as our eyes and ears sense the world and send data to our brains, our digestive tracts need ways of sending back data on what they are eating, and how much. They do this, in part, by secreting various chemical signals – hormones. Glucagon-like peptide-1 is secreted by the intestines and triggers the pancreas to produce insulin. The first GLP-1 drugs took advantage of this to become powerful treatments for diabetes. But GLP-1 has much wider effects beyond blood-sugar control. Receptors for the hormone spread throughout the body, even in the brain, where they trigger a feeling of fullness and decrease appetite. A once-weekly dose of semaglutide, plus lifestyle changes, led volunteers in a phase 3 trial to lose 14.9 per cent of their body weight over 15 months. GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy essentially copy that human hormone. That makes them fragile. They need to be kept refrigerated, and injected subcutaneously rather than taken by mouth – as the stomach's acid would quickly break them down. An oral version of semaglutide has been developed, but only 1 per cent of the drug actually makes its way to the target receptors, and it appears less effective than the injectable version for weight loss. Loading Researchers at Japan's Chugai Pharmaceutical Co figured out a way around this problem. They designed a small molecule that can bind to the same receptor as GLP-1 and trigger it. It mimics the effect without mimicking the structure. 'It's a development I never would have thought feasible,' said Professor Michael Horowitz, a University of Adelaide researcher who authored a commentary on the drug in the Lancet. Chugai licensed the molecule to US-based Eli Lilly in 2018. Last week, the company reported participants on the highest dose in a clinical trial lost 7.9 per cent of their body weight over 40 weeks. The full details of the trial have not yet been reported, and whether the weight loss is maintained over the longer term is unclear. More than a quarter of patients reported diarrhoea, 16 per cent nausea and 14 per cent vomiting. The preliminary results are 'close enough to broadly call it similar' to semaglutide, said Professor Jonathan Shaw, who led the Australian arm of Lilly's trial at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne. 'I don't think we can confidently say it's better or worse. It's definitely in the same ballpark.' It's also not known if the drug will offer the range of other benefits that GLP-1 inhibitors provide in addition to weight loss, like reductions in cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's risk (and maybe even addictive behaviours). Horowitz said the efficacy data was promising, but he wanted to see more information about adverse effects, which he said were understated generally across semaglutide trials because they relied on patients to report their own side effects. 'It hasn't served the interests of pharma to quantify how well this is tolerated.' Pfizer was developing a similar once-daily GLP-1 pill but cancelled the program in April after a patient in a clinical trial suffered liver damage. A pill should, theoretically, be cheaper and easier to make than an injector – Novo Nordisk, maker of Wegovy and its diabetes drug antecedent Ozempic, has struggled to keep up with demand for semaglutide – and dramatically easier to transport. At present, the drug must be kept refrigerated right from European factories to a patient's home. 'That all adds to the cost,' said Shaw. There could also be cost benefits from increased competition as more drugs are approved – possibly pushing the price down far enough for governments to consider subsidising it. Lilly expects to apply for regulatory approval for the drug later this year. While orforglipron has attracted the most excitement – Eli Lilly's shares have surged since they announced the trial results – it is just one of several new drugs in late-stage development. These drugs might be of particular value to 15 per cent or so of people whose bodies do not seem to respond to semaglutide. And people don't seem to stay on the injectable drugs – less than half are still using them a year later, per a study 2024 study – despite the fact weight rebound is likely if you stop using them. 'Is it the injection? Is it the cost? Or is it due to adverse effects? We don't know,' said Horowitz. The new drugs might also offer weight-loss benefits. Mounjaro, for example, mimics both GLP-1 and the gastric inhibitory polypeptide, which increases metabolism and appears to lead to better weight-loss results. The new drugs, like Lilly's retatrutide, target even more receptors, with the hope of even greater effects. It's all good news for Rochelle McDonald. She does not mind taking a weekly injection – 'the stabby-stab' – now she's found ways of coping with the side effects. But paying $240 a month for her current dose of the medicine is 'a commitment in itself'. 'I think a daily pill would be good,' she said. 'If it comes in at a good price point.'
News.com.au
27-06-2025
- News.com.au
Itching, swelling and burning after sex may be signs of a common allergy
Itchy genitalia, a burning sensation, and feeling breathless are all considered normal after sex. But for a growing number of women, these symptoms could be a sign of seminal plasma hypersensitivity (SPH) — an allergy to semen. While it's considered a rare allergy, it's also underdiagnosed. Michael Carroll, associate professor in reproductive science at Manchester Metropolitan University, explained it isn't triggered by sperm cells, but the fluid that carried the sperm. 'First documented in 1967, when a woman was hospitalised after a 'violent allergic reaction' to sex, SPH is now recognised as a type 1 hypersensitivity, the same category as hay fever, peanut allergy and cat dander,' he said, according to The Sun. Writing for The Conversation, Associate Professor Carroll said symptoms of SPH can range from mild to severe. While some women experience local reactions, such as burning, itching, redness and swelling of the vulva or vagina, others develop full-body symptoms such ashives, wheezing, and even anaphylaxis. He added: 'Until 1977, SPH was thought to affect fewer than 100 women globally. 'But a study led by allergist Jonathan Bernstein found among women reporting post-coital symptoms, nearly 12 per cent could be classified as having probable SPH. 'I conducted a small, unpublished survey in 2013 and found a similar 12 per cent rate. The true figure may be higher still. 'Many cases go unreported, misdiagnosed, or dismissed as STIs, yeast infections, or general 'sensitivity'. 'One revealing clue: symptoms disappear when condoms are used.' The main allergen, according to Carroll, is prostate-specific antigen — a protein produced by cells in the prostate gland. And cross-reactivity is a possibility, for example, f5, a protein found in dog dander, is structurally similar to PSA. So a woman allergic to dogs may also be allergic to semen too. Also, woman may not be the only ones affected, said Carroll. It's possible some men be allergic to their own semen too. A paper published in American Journal of Case Reports described a 22-year-old was consumed by sneezing, watery eyes, stomach cramps, muscle pain and deep fatigue in the hours after climaxing. The condition is known as post-orgasmic illness syndrome (POIS). While SPH doesn't cause infertility directly, it can complicate conception. Carroll said: 'Avoiding the allergen – usually the most effective treatment for allergies – isn't feasible for couples trying to conceive. Treatments include prophylactic antihistamines (antihistamine medications taken in advance of anticipated exposure to an allergen, or before allergy symptoms are expected to appear to prevent or reduce the severity of allergic reactions), anti-inflammatories and desensitisation using diluted seminal plasma. In more severe cases, couples may choose IVF with washed sperm, bypassing the allergic trigger altogether.
