Drug that ‘cuts weight by 20%’

A ‘GAMECHANGING’ diabetes drug could help obese people shed up to 20 per cent of their body weight, a trial suggests.

A study of 2,539 overweight and obese participants who did not have diabetes found a weekly dose of tirzepatide could lead to significant weight loss when used alongside diet and exercise.

The international research team split the volunteers into four groups and over a 72-week period they were given three different doses of tirzepatide or a placebo.

The group on the highest dose – 15mg – lost 3st 10lb on average, according to the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Fifty-seven per cent of them lost 20 per cent of their body weight.

Obesity experts told The Guardian tirzepatide was ‘gamechanging’, but warned of side effects such as vomiting and diarrhoea, and said weight could be regained once people stop taking it.