Check Up: The reason people quit weight-loss drugs

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• People are reportedly quitting popular weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy after 3 months
• Side effects such as loss of muscle mass is one big reason
• The best and worst performing ASX health stocks in the past month

Despite more people taking diabetes medication (like Ozempic and Wegovy) to induce weight loss, few can in fact tolerate them in the long run, according to new research.

New research published in the journal Obesity reveals that only 44% of people people prescribed weight-loss drugs were still taking them after three months, and only 19% after one year.

So why do people not persist with it?

According to a report by The Conversation, not persisting with medication is a well known phenomenon and actually not that unusual.

For example, studies have shown that by the end of one year, almost half of the people on blood pressure medication stop taking them.

The most cited reason is concerns around side effects.

For GLP-1 medication (like Ozempic and Wegovy), numerous issues of side effects have been widely reported, including bouts of nausea, diarrhoea, constipation, fatigue as well sulphurous burping.

Lean muscle Loss

Another reason for ditching these weight loss drugs is that it apparently causes lean muscle loss.

A recent result of a clinical trial of semaglitude—the active ingredient in weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy – showed that people lost nearly as much loss of lean muscle as pounds of fat.

Participants in the trial lost about 15 pounds (around 6.8kg) of lean muscle on average, compared with 23 pounds (10.4 kg) of fat during the 68-week trial.

Experts however say although losing lean muscle when shedding weight is a problem, it isn’t all that surprising.

“When we look at weight reduction from any intervention, about one-third of the weight we lose tends to be lean mass, and that can be problematic,” Dr. Jaime Almandoz, an associate professor of internal medicine at University of Texas told NBC.

“That lean mass loss is generally from muscle. Lean mass is healthier and associated with better metabolism, so when we lose lean mass, we may lose some of that function.”

Because of that, most doctors are instead urging people to go on a slow, consistent weight loss program by focusing on health, and not weight.

“If weight loss is starting to seem unachievable, try setting a different goal,” said a report from the American Nurse Association.

“Getting more physically fit can improve your health in many of the same ways. And you might find gaining fitness easier and more rewarding than losing weight.”

Best performing ASX biotechs over the past month

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LBT Innovations (ASX:LBT)

LBT has been rising since its AGM in late November, where management provided an update on the company’s goals in 2024.

LBT CEO Brent Barnes said the expectations in 2024 include completion of the product development project with AstraZeneca, with a global rollout expected in the second half of the year.

In January, the microbiology diagnostic equipment manufacturer LBT announced a partnership with AstraZeneca and Thermo Fisher to speed up the development of LBT’s APAS AI software platform for microbial testing in the pharmaceutical sector.

The software is said to allow the speed up of laboratory processing of clinical samples by utilising AI to scan for microbial contamination.

In addition, LBT’s management expects additional pharmaceutical companies to commence validations in 2024, which will build the company’s sales pipeline.

Neuren Pharma (ASX:NEU)

Neuren soared last week after announcing positive results of its Phase 2 results of NNZ-2591 in children with Phelan-McDermid syndrome (PMS).

NNZ-2591 was given to all patients in the study as an oral liquid dose twice daily, with escalation in two stages up to the target dose of 12mg/kg during the first six weeks of treatment, subject to independent review of safety and tolerability data.

NEU says significant improvement was observed by both clinicians and caregivers from treatment, across multiple efficacy measures.

NEU also says NNZ-2591 was safe and well tolerated, with no clinically significant changes in laboratory values or other safety parameters during treatment.

Seperately, the company said the last subject to be screened this week will complete the enrolment of subjects into its Phase 2 clinical trial of NNZ-2591 in Angelman syndrome (AS).

The Phase 2 trial will have enrolled children between aged 3 to 17 years at three hospitals in Australia. The study will examine the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and efficacy of NNZ-2591 over 13 weeks of twice-daily oral liquid doses.

NNZ-2591 is a synthetic drug which is is under development by Neuren for the treatment of Rett syndrome, fragile X syndrome, Phelan-McDermid syndrome, Pitt Hopkins syndrome (genetic disorders), Prader-Willi syndrome, as well as Angelman Syndrome.

Top-line results from the trial are expected to be available in Q3 2024.

Intelicare (ASX:ICR)

ICR has been rising after executing a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bolton Clarke as a precursor to a Strategic Partnership Agreement.

Bolton Clarke is Australia’s largest independent not-for-profit aged care provider, supporting more than 130,000 people at home and in its 88 residential homes and 38 retirement villages.

ICR also executed a binding Reseller Agreement with JNC Technologies to deploy the InteliCare platform to JNC’s client Hardi Aged Care.

The contract value is expected to be $1.8 million in hardware implementation, and on full deployment will generate in excess of $0.5 million in annual recurring SaaS fees with an initial term of three years, representing InteliCare’s largest commercial deployment to date.

Pacific Smiles Group (ASX:PSQ)

Dental clinics network, Pacific Smiles Group, provided an update on its trading performance as of the close of business on 20 December.

Patient fees came in $141.1m, a 10.5% increase YoY, and same centre patient fees also increased 9.7% YoY.

PSQ also provided guidance for FY24.

Patient fees for the full year are expected to come in the range of $293m to $297m, and Underlying EBITDA in the range of $26m to $28m.

Additionally, PSQ said the board has assessed the $1.40 in cash per share takeover offer from Genesis Capital submitted earlier this week.

Despite acknowledging that the share price performance of Pacific Smiles has been disappointing, the board considers that the offer is “opportunistic and materially undervalues Pacific Smiles”, and has therefore rejected the proposal.

Adherium (ASX:ADR)

The digital health company delivered the first purchase order agreement of 1,750 of its Hailie Smartinhaler sensors to a major US hospital system, Intermountain Health.

Intermountain includes 33 hospitals, 385 clinics with more than 12,000 associated physicians. Intermountain is a leader in outpatient respiratory care with around 300,000 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma patients.

Hailie is the only US FDA 510(k) cleared, drug-agnostic digital sensor available today providing physiological data insights on inhaler technique.

Haile’s sensors remotely capture when and how an inhaler is being used, profoundly improving adherence and patient self-management. This data enables timely interventions and tailored treatments to improve health outcomes to reduce hospital admissions and ultimately healthcare costs.

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