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01 / 05
Weekly Progress Roundup

Newsletter | Noncommunicable Disease

Weekly Progress Roundup

Malcolm Cochran —

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Was the recent downturn in the US obesity rate—featured in last week’s progress roundup—due to Ozempic, Mounjaro, and other GLP-1 agonist drugs?

The Financial Times columnist John Burn-Murdoch recently highlighted some evidence supporting that hypothesis. First, GLP-1 agonists have high levels of adoption. One in 8 Americans have tried the drugs, and 6 percent are currently using them—more than enough to shift the national obesity rate. Second, the drop in obesity was greatest among college graduates, who use GLP-1 agonists at higher rates than less educated citizens.

It’s also possible that GLP-1 medications contributed to the recent drop in overdose deaths. There is a steady stream of research showing that GLP-1 agonists can help treat addiction. And, just last week, a study found that diabetes patients prescribed semaglutide had a much lower risk of opioid overdose than those taking other diabetes medications. Obesity is also associated with opioid abuse, meaning there is potentially a significant overlap between those at risk of an overdose and those taking the weight loss drugs.

The long-term impact of GLP-1 agonists on either problem remains highly uncertain. But if the medications really are making a difference at the population level, it would be a historic development in public health. As Burn-Murdoch writes:

“What makes this all the more remarkable is the contrast in mechanisms behind the respective declines in smoking and obesity. The former was eventually achieved through decades of campaigning, public health warnings, tax incentives and bans. With obesity, a single pharmaceutical innovation has done what those same methods have repeatedly failed to do.”

Malcolm Cochran, Digital Communications Manager

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Nature | Noncommunicable Disease

Pancreatic Drug Shows Promise in RAS-Mutant Lung Cancer

“Just one week after the landmark US approval of a game-changing drug for advanced pancreatic cancer, the same therapy is showing promise against the world’s biggest cancer killer: lung cancer.

In a small clinical trial of the drug daraxonrasib (Rasonque), tumours shrank in more than 30% of participants with the most common form of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer. Each participant had a tumour-promoting mutation in a member of the RAS family of proteins, and had previously tried other therapies.”

From Nature.

Reuters | Noncommunicable Disease

AstraZeneca Drug Reduces COPD Flare-Ups in Trials

“A drug being developed by AstraZeneca significantly reduced flare-ups of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in two late-stage trials, researchers ​reported on Tuesday at the medical meeting in Barcelona.

Patients receiving Astra's tozorakimab during the year-long studies experienced about 29% to 34% fewer moderate-to-severe COPD exacerbations than those receiving a placebo, ‌the researchers reported.

Overall rates of moderate or severe exacerbations among former and current smokers in the two trials were 1.41 and 1.44 events, respectively, in patients receiving tozorakimab compared with 2.00 and 2.03 events, respectively, in those receiving a placebo.”

From Reuters.

New York Times | Noncommunicable Disease

One-Time Gene Editing Shows Yearlong Cholesterol Reduction

“Despite an ever-growing armory of pills, injections and lifestyle interventions to lower the risk of heart disease, it remains the No. 1 killer of Americans. About half of people who start taking a daily statin stop, and many who could benefit from the drugs don’t start them. Lack of access to health care, an inability to tolerate the drugs and concerns about taking a medicine for life all can play a role.

In the new study, funded by the biotechnology company CRISPR Therapeutics, 15 patients received a one-time infusion of lipid nanoparticles, essentially fat bubbles, carrying gene-editing machinery to their livers. That machinery was programmed to snip and disable a gene involved in cholesterol metabolism called ANGPTL3.

The experiment was inspired, in part, by the discovery that there are people who have naturally occurring versions of the ANGPTL3 gene that aren’t functional. Those people have very low levels of cholesterol and triglycerides and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Gene-editing technology allows scientists to try to emulate this trait.

In the four patients who received the highest dose of the treatment, levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, both risk factors for heart disease, dropped by about 50 percent and remained steady a year later.”

From New York Times.

New York Times | Noncommunicable Disease

FDA Approves Life-Extending Drug for Pancreatic Cancer

“The Food and Drug Administration approved on Wednesday a new drug for advanced pancreatic cancer, ushering in a new era of treatment for a disease that has long been considered one of the most hopeless in medicine.

The drug, taken as two pills a day, is the first of its type and has electrified cancer specialists and patients. It is not a cure, but it is the first treatment to substantially extend the lives of patients with pancreatic cancer.

The drug, daraxonrasib, is made by Revolution Medicines and will be sold under the brand name Rasonque. It was approved for patients who have metastatic pancreatic cancer and have already tried chemotherapy. In a key clinical trial, participants who got daraxonrasib lived for a median of over 13 months, compared with less than seven months for those who got chemotherapy. Some patients who have gotten the drug through clinical trials have lived for years.”

From New York Times.