Tirzepatide cut sleep apnea severity by nearly two thirds in trial

Two clinical trials found that tirzepatide significantly reduced the number of breathing interruptions during sleep, the standard measure of severity, in clinically obese adults living with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea. The trials ran a year across 469 patients recruited in nine countries, and some participants improved enough that they may no longer need a CPAP machine at night.

Nothing on the market treats the cause. Sleep apnea stops and restarts breathing through the night and cuts the oxygen reaching the body, and the standard answer is a pressurized mask a lot of people never put on. Peer reviewed trial data rather than a company release carry this one, and the manufacturer put the drop in severity at nearly two thirds in its preliminary announcement.

Those same trials were partly funded by the drugmaker, which is also the party asking regulators to add the condition to the label. Most sleep apnea is never diagnosed, so of the 80 million people the company counts in the United States, 20 million of them moderate to severe, the majority are never in a room where anything gets prescribed, and coverage for a costly injectable is still an open question. Whether it fits one person belongs with a qualified clinician who knows that person's health history.

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