Retatrutide reduces knee pain and body weight in osteoarthritis patients

In two Northwestern University-led phase 3 clinical trials involving more than 1,000 participants combined, those taking the highest dose of retatrutide, a new experimental weight-loss injectable drug, lost about one-quarter of their body weight on average. A pooled analysis of the studies found that about two-thirds of participants receiving retatrutide experienced at least a 50% reduction in knee pain, compared with 38% of those receiving placebo.

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Key questions remain

"These drugs are believed to have significant anti-inflammatory activity, but the mechanism is not entirely known," Schnitzer said. "Whether cutting down inflammation in the joint is also important in addition to reducing load needs more research, so this is still a first step, in my view. I've been working in the OA field for a long time, and I think this opens up opportunities to do a lot more studies to understand the condition better."

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Northwestern University

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