A groundbreaking study has found that the monoclonal antibody Bimagrumab can significantly reduce body fat in obese patients with type 2 diabetes. The study, conducted by scientists at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center of Louisiana State University and Novartis AG, showed that Bimagrumab reduced body fat by 20.5% in patients with an average BMI of 32.9. The drug was originally developed to treat muscle weakness and atrophy, but the study found that it also reduces body fat. The drug has not yet been approved for the treatment of obesity, and larger studies are needed to confirm its safety.
For years, medicine has been searching for effective drugs to treat obesity and overweight patients with a BMI over 30. However, previously approved drugs had minimal effects or were associated with severe side effects. The study published in JAMA Network Open shows that Bimagrumab has the potential to be a game-changer in the treatment of obesity. The study included 75 obese patients with type 2 diabetes who received intravenous infusions of Bimagrumab or a placebo over 48 weeks. The study documented changes in body fat mass, waist circumference, lean body mass, and body weight.
The results were astounding, with the Bimagrumab group experiencing a 20.5% reduction in body fat mass, a 6 kg reduction in body weight, and a 9 cm reduction in waist circumference. The drug also increased lean body mass by 1.7 kg. However, larger studies are needed to confirm the safety of the drug before it can be approved for the treatment of obesity. While the Phase-2 study showed a temporary increase in liver and pancreatic enzymes, there were no significant differences in the safety profiles of the study groups. The potential of Bimagrumab to reduce body fat in obese patients with type 2 diabetes is a significant breakthrough in the treatment of obesity and could have far-reaching implications for public health.
