Eli Lilly’s Zepbound eases obstructive sleep apnea in trials

Eli Lilly reported positive results for its obesity drug Zepbound in obstructive sleep apnea, giving the medication a new edge in the highly competitive obesity market.

The results also pave the way for Zepbound to potentially become the first approved treatment for obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, a common disorder characterized by breathing interruptions during sleep.

In one year-long Phase 3 study that looked at patients with obesity who were not on PAP therapy, a form of ventilation, those taking Zepbound experienced a reduction of 25.3 events per hour on the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), a measure of the number of times breathing stops and becomes restricted while sleeping. That compares with a reduction of 5.3 events in patients on placebo, Lilly said in a press release Wednesday.

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