)
India’s wait is over.
The popular anti-obesity drug Mounjaro is finally here.
The development comes after Eli Lilly received approval from India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).
But what do we know about it? How does it work?
Let’s take a closer look:
What is it? How does it work?
Mounjaro is the brand name of the drug called
tirzepatide.
As per UChealth.org, the US had given it the green light for people with diabetes.
Mounjaro basically works by lowering blood sugar levels in the body, as per Diabates.co.UK.
As per Business Standard, the drug will cost Rs 3,500 for a 2.5 mg vial and Rs 4,375 for a 5 mg vial.
This will cost patients who take it once a month around Rs 14,000 to Rs 17,500.
Like its competitors
Ozempic and Wegovy (which are the brand names for the drug semaglutide), it is an injectable that needs to be used once a week.
However, unlike those brands, which reduce the appetite by mimicking the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) hormone, Mounjaro works by binding and activating two receptors – GIP and GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1).
As per BBC, GLP-1 is an intestinal hormone that the body releases after a meal. GIP, meanwhile, is a hormone that deals with metabolism and energy balance.
Patients usually start out at the minimum dose of 5 mg.
“It’s a completely new drug class,” Dr Cecilia Low Wang, professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine on the Anschutz Medical Campus told the UChealth website.
“Instead of being a single-receptor agonist, which semaglutide (the drug in
Ozempic and Wegovy) is, Mounjaro activates two receptors at the same time. That’s why it’s called a ‘dual-agonist.’”
What do experts say?
They say the drug has shown
incredible results.
As per Business Standard, adults taking 15 mg of Mounjaro along with diet and exercise in a clinical trial lost on average 21.8 kilos in 17 months.
Meanwhile, those taking 5 mg of Mounjaro shed 15.4 kilos over the same period.
One in three patients lost more than 25 per cent of their body weight.
In fact, those using Mounjaro lost on average almost 5.5 kilos more than those on
Ozempic or Wegovy, according to UCHealth.org.
“They were able to achieve unprecedented amounts of weight loss. It was dramatic and exciting,” Low Wang told the website. “We’ve never had a medication that is so effective for improving diabetes control and weight loss without putting patients at high risk of hypoglycemia. The impacts on appetite and weight regulation are startling.”
However, it is important to note that the drug has been approved to treat type 2 diabetes and not weight loss.
It must also be noted that Mounjaro is not approved for children or teens.
Mounjaro can also result in a number of
side effects including
-
Nausea
-
Indigestion
-
Constipation
-
Diarrhoea
Also, the people who stop using these drugs usually find the weight returning.
Which means this is a lifelong expense.
“If you stop taking these medications, and don’t change your behaviours, then the weight can pile back on,” Low Wang pointed out.
She also said the long-term effects of Mounjaro remain unknown.
“We still don’t know what the effects would be of taking Mounjaro for a short time, then going off of it. Does it change anything about your biology? Does it make it harder to lose weight in the future without a medication? We really don’t know yet,” Low Wang said.
‘First of its kind’
“It is a first-of-its-kind treatment for obesity, overweight, and type 2 diabetes that activates both GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) and GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) hormone receptors,” Eli Lilly said as per Business Standard.
“This India-specific pricing reflects Lilly’s commitment to expanding access to innovative treatments in the country,” it added.
“Obesity and diabetes are recognised as serious conditions linked to various life-limiting health complications, making effective and sustained treatment critical. Mounjaro may offer a new approach to metabolic health management, providing healthcare providers with an innovative option to treat these diseases,” said Dr Manish Mistry, senior medical director, Lilly India.
“The dual burden of obesity and type 2 diabetes is rapidly emerging as a major public health challenge in India,” Winselow Tucker, president and general manager, Lilly India, was quoted as saying by Moneycontrol. Tucker said his firm is “committed to collaborating with the government and industry to improve prevention and management.”
The development comes as obesity and diabetes are becoming a bigger and bigger problem in developing nations like India.
As per The Times of India, over 100 million Indians are obese and around 100 million Indians are diabetic.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch for combating obesity in his monthly ‘Mann Ki Baat’ radiocast in February.
Obesity will have to be dealt with to be a fit and healthy nation, he said.
Obesity, a body mass index (BMI) of over 30, is known to have wide-ranging effects, including raising one’s risk of metabolic and heart disease. It can also impact one’s bone health and fertility and increase cancer risk.
With inputs from agencies