New Weight-Loss Pill May Help Patients with Sleep Apnea

In depth

A clinical trial involving 712 adults found that the drug Foundayo, given in pill form, significantly reduced the severity of obstructive sleep apnea during sleep. Almost a third of the participants in one of the groups went into remission from the disease or had only a mild condition. Alongside the improvement in breathing, weight loss and improvements in blood pressure and inflammation markers were recorded.

The drug is taken as a daily pill and is referred to as the new weight-loss pill from Eli Lilly. Two studies that were published yesterday showed a reduction of a quarter to a third in nighttime breathing pauses among patients with excess weight. Patients lost about 10% of their body weight.

Prof. Giora Pillar said medicine is desperate for a drug for sleep apnea. An expert who analyzed the study at the conference said that regarding symptom relief the question remains open, and the improvement in breathing falls short of that recorded in studies on the Mounjaro weight-loss injection.