The Era of Custom Weight-Loss Drugs Is Coming

"A whole slew of next-generation obesity drugs are on the horizon, some already advanced enough in clinical trials to be looking as good as-if not better than-those already on the market. The novel medications continue to push the upward limits of weight loss, now to almost 25 percent of body weight on average, but they also differ in their modes of action. They target different cells and different parts of cells in the brain and body."

"Obesity, after all, is not monolithic. With the coming explosion of obesity drugs, doctors could soon match each patient's condition to their optimal medication: A 25-year-old with fatty-liver disease may need a different drug than a 75-year-old with low muscle mass. About 100 million adults live with obesity in just the U.S., a market massive enough for multiple mediations to find a niche."

Next-generation obesity drugs are advancing rapidly, with some clinical trials showing nearly 25 percent average body-weight loss. These medications use diverse mechanisms, targeting different cells and subcellular regions in brain and body. Obesity presents in multiple forms, so patient-specific factors such as age, fatty-liver disease, or low muscle mass may determine the optimal therapy. Current drugs do not work for everyone: semaglutide produces about 10 percent average weight loss yet a third of patients lost under 5 percent, some gain weight, and some experience intolerable side effects like persistent nausea and vomiting. The U.S. market includes roughly 100 million adults with obesity.

Read at The Atlantic