Another significant advantage of the weight-loss medication Zepbound (tirzepatide) is that, as of December 20, it was the first medication authorized by the FDA to treat obstructive sleep apnea.
The medication helped overweight or obese individuals with sleep apnea reduce a standard measure of restricted breathing by 63%, resulting in an average of 30 fewer interrupted sleep events per night.
Than those who received a placebo, according to a trial that Lilly, the drug’s manufacturer, submitted to the FDA in April.
Those who took Zepbound alone were compared to a placebo group in one analysis of the one-year follow-up study.
While those who took Zepbound in conjunction with a positive airway pressure (PAP) device—currently one of the standard treatments for obstructive sleep apnea—were included in the second analysis. That group was contrasted with one that used PAP and a placebo.
According to Eli Lilly chief scientific officer Dan Skovronsky, “this is the first pharmacologic therapy that can treat obstructive sleep apnea in this way.”
