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Anti-obesity Medications
Objectives of Anti-obesity Medications
Improve the health of patients
➤ Improve hyperglycemia, high blood pressure, and abnormal lipid levels.
➤ Reduce cardiovascular events.
➤ Improve other adverse metabolic, biomechanical, and
psychosocial health consequences, with improved quality of life.
➤ Reduce mortality.
Improve the weight of patients
➤ Weight loss to a clinically meaningful degree that patients and
clinicians will embrace initiation of anti-obesity therapy.
➤ Weight loss maintenance to a degree that patients and clinicians
will persist in adhering to long-term anti-obesity therapy.
TOP 5 TAKEAWAY MESSAGES:
Anti-obesity Drug Development
1. Targets of current anti-obesity drug development are mainly
focused on intervention pathways related to the central nervous
system, gastrointestinal systems, and adipose tissue.
2. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) are being
combined with other agents as double or triple hormone receptor
agonists (e.g., retatrutide).
3. An emerging concept is that the development of anti-obesity
agents must not only reduce fat mass (adiposity) but must also
correct fat dysfunction (adiposity-related disease).
4. Novel agents are becoming more effective and reaching
outcomes similar to what is observed with bariatric surgery.
5. With the exception of anti-obesity agents that are a combination
of drugs in a single formulation, limited data exists for
combinations of multiple anti-obesity medications.
