What To Know About Pemvidutide—Altimmune Says Weight Loss Drug Minimized Muscle Mass Loss In Trial
Altimmune’s experimental weight loss drug pemvidutide minimized the loss of muscle mass while losing weight, mimicking the effects of diet and exercise, according to the results of a small trial by the company, amid efforts by biotech firms to study how increasingly popular weight-loss drugs can maintain muscle mass.
In a mid-stage trial of pemvidutide, 74.5% of weight loss among 391 participants came from fat tissue while only 25.5% came from lean mass, results that are comparable to the effects “historically associated with diet and exercise,” Altimmune announced Wednesday.
The drug pemvidutide combines the GLP-1 hormone—a key ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy—with the hormone glucagon, a pairing the company is also testing to treat a common form of liver disease called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH.
Over 30% of participants using a 2.4-milligram dose of pemvidutide achieved a 20% weight loss through a 48-week trial of the drug, Altimmune announced in November.
