Trials Suggest Retatrutide May Reduce Sleep Apnea Symptoms

Eli Lilly’s highly anticipated weight loss drug retatrutide may also help people with obstructive sleep apnea, recent research shows. Two trials of the experimental drug found it significantly reduced symptoms compared with a placebo, and the findings were published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Retatrutide mimics GLP-1, GIP and the hormone glucagon, part of a next generation of obesity and diabetes medications. Large-scale randomized, placebo-controlled and double-blinded studies so far have shown it may be the most potent obesity drug developed yet, and the FDA and other regulators are described as almost certain to grant Eli Lilly approval next year.

The two trials were nested within larger phase III trials and together included roughly 700 participants, one group with type 2 diabetes and obesity who also had sleep apnea and another with sleep apnea and obesity without diabetes. Across different doses, people taking retatrutide on average experienced fewer apnea and/or hypopnea episodes while sleeping than those taking placebo, and more than half of users in one trial saw remission or a downgrade to mild apnea, with many no longer requiring a positive airway pressure machine.

The benefits on apnea symptoms were smaller but still significant for people with both obesity and type 2 diabetes. Excess body weight is not the only risk factor for sleep apnea, so the drug is described as unlikely to do much for individuals with sleep apnea who are not obese or overweight, roughly a quarter of cases, and some people will likely still need other treatments.

GLP-1-based drugs are already used as an adjunct treatment for many people with both conditions, and in late 2024 Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide secured FDA approval for treating obstructive sleep apnea, while other pill-based treatments are being developed. Retatrutide may also someday soon bring relief for many of the estimated 50 million Americans who additionally suffer from obstructive sleep apnea.