Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk has developed a pill that can cause weight loss of up to 13% in three months, according to new trial results.
Amycretin is unusual because it mimics the appetite-suppressing hormone GLP-1, like Ozempic but also amylin, a hormone that makes people feel full and helps control blood sugar.
And while Ozempic and similar medications are injectable prescription drugs, Amycretin is a daily tablet.
“A single molecule that targets both amylin and GLP-1 biology in a tablet form could offer a more convenient approach to achieving better outcomes for individuals with overweight or obesity,” researchers said before presenting their findings this week at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Madrid.
Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical giant behind Ozempic and Wegovy, conducted the 12-week study of overweight or obese people who received Amycretin or a placebo. The participants did not have diabetes.
Volunteers who took 50 milligrams of Amycretin lost an average of 10.4% of their body weight over three months. Those who took twice as much, the maximum dose tested, shed 13.1%.
Placebo users dropped 1.1% on average.
To compare, a recent study found that Mounjaro patients shed 5.9% of their body weight in three months, while Ozempic users lost 3.6%.
Amycretin side effects include nausea and vomiting, but they were reported to be mostly mild to moderate.
A Novo Nordisk spokesperson told The Post that the drug appears “safe” and “well-tolerated.”
“Daily oral amycretin treatment in adult participants with overweight or obesity and without diabetes demonstrated acceptable safety and tolerability profiles and led to remarkable reductions in body weight over only 12 weeks,” researchers wrote in their abstract.
“Furthermore, the lack of weight loss plateauing indicates the possibility of achieving further weight reductions with extended treatment,” they added.
It’s unclear when Amycretin will hit the market if it passes all its testing.
A Phase 1 trial of a subcutaneous form of Amycretin, delivered via injections like Ozempic, is expected to be completed next year. Novo Nordisk, meanwhile, has initiated Phase 2 trials of the drug for people with diabetes.
Dr. Andrea Bedrosian, director of bariatrics and minimally invasive surgery at North Shore University Hospital, called a weight loss pill “good news” for those struggling with obesity.
“Certainly, more testing over longer periods of time is necessary to determine the safety, efficacy and tolerability of this treatment,” Bedrosian, who was not involved with the research, told The Post. “Judgment should be reserved until larger and longer-term Phase 2 and 3 trials are completed and published in peer-reviewed journals.”
The preliminary findings come as the popularity of Ozempic and similar drugs is causing a nationwide shortage — despite reports that the medications can cause bowel obstruction, a rare blinding disease and even death.
Meanwhile, researchers have been testing these drugs to see what else they can treat beyond weight loss.
