Myostatin Inhibitors Can Stop Ozempic’s Dangerous Muscle Loss

There have been about 6 million prescriptions for GLP-1 anti-obesity medications such as Ozempic, Trulicity, and Mounjaro. Although GLP-1 is effective over a sustained period, up to 40% of lost pounds can be dangerous muscle loss that results in people looking like deflated balloons.

GLP-1 medications as a class of drugs often prescribed for type 2 diabetes and weight loss, can be administered through syringes or pre-filled pens. Despite most GPL-1 users having sedentary lifestyles, patients tend to achieve 5% to 15% of body weight loss if sustained for at least 12 months, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.

But studies have confirmed that 25-40% of that loss over 36–72 weeks of injections will be dangerous muscle loss. Muscle mass loss with GLP-1 is also several times greater than what would be expected from age-related muscle loss, based on 8% muscle loss per decade from ages 40–70 years.

Lean muscle stabilizes blood sugar, boosts immunity, keeps bones strong, and maintains metabolic rate. But the active ingredient in GPL-1 called semaglutide, may cause patients to be “skinny-fat”, thin but slower metabolism and higher risk of regaining back all their weight as fat.

Women are most at risk of complications from skinny-fat because muscle loss compounds age-related bone density loss. Women that stop Ozempic may suffer a vicious cycle where they regain mostly fat and not lost muscle.

But scientist have discovered a use for a failed class of drugs for developed for muscular dystrophy in the 1990s called myostatin Inhibitors. When combined with GLP-1 results in minimal muscle loss

Regeneron published a study last month that foundsemaglutide alone strips 34.5 percent of weight loss from muscle. But when their myostatin inhibitor called Trevogrumab was combined, patients lost an average of 30 pounds with only 1.5 pounds of muscle loss, versus 7.9 pounds on semaglutide without the myostatin inhibitor.

Harvard Medical School’s biotech research spin-offScholar Rock Holding Corporation (SRRK), published similar results last week with its myostatin inhibitorcalled Apitegromab. When combining their myostatin inhibitor with a GPL-1, patients lost 85 percent fat and only 15 percent muscle.

With Scholar Rock set to receive FDA approval within months to become the first to market, its stock spiked up by 300 percent last week. Eli Lilly recently paid $1.925 billion, and AstraZeneca spent $80 million for drugs that block muscle-limiting receptors.

Ozempic proved dramatic weight loss was possible. Now the big pharm race is on to help people lose significant weight and sculpt their body mass.