the obesity revolution
Here come more obesity drugs, and a way to keep up with them
Molly Ferguson for STAT
First there was Wegovy, then Mounjaro, and now nearly 70 other drugs in development that aim to help people with obesity cut weight. In recent years, dozens of companies have jumped into the obesity market, propelled by the blockbuster success of Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. As the field grows, STAT has created a new obesity drug tracker to keep tabs on all the developments.
Most of these treatments in development are using similar mechanisms as Wegovy and Mounjaro, but some are testing out entirely novel approaches. Read more from STAT's Elaine Chen and Allison DeAngelis on the strategies biotechs are pursuing and the challenges they face as they hunt for the next big obesity drug.
pandemic
Updated Covid vaccines get FDA's green light
The FDA approved two new Covid-19 boosters yesterday, meaning the mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech could be ready as soon as later this week. Before they show up in doctors' offices, clinics, and pharmacies, the CDC will have to sign off on the vaccines, which contain only a single strain of the virus and, for the first time, don't include the original one that emerged from China in 2019. The new shots target Omicron's XBB.1.5 version, the dominant subvariant when FDA chose it in June.
Last week, both Moderna and Pfizer said their updated vaccines also generate strong antibody responses against BA.2.86, a highly mutated subvariant now circulating. The CDC's decision will center not on who's eligible for the new shots, but for whom should they be recommended. Uptake of boosters has been anemic, at only 17% getting last fall's version. STAT's Helen Branswell and Matthew Herper explain.
health
First symptoms of one kind of dementia are more severe for Black patients
When people are first diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (rarer than Alzheimer's), their symptoms are more severe if they are Black, a new exploratory study suggests. The reasons why aren't understood, and the authors writing in JAMA Neurology urge more inclusive research, acknowledging the highest rates of dementia are among Black and Hispanic people, who have the lowest research representation. STAT's Usha Lee McFarling has documented the absence of Hispanic people in clinical trials, which draw most volunteers from specialty clinics: Hispanics made up 18% of the U.S. population but just 2% of participants in Alzheimer's clinical trials as of 2019.
The new study, based on National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center data, included 2,478 people, 95% of them white. Still, Black patients had a greater frequency of delusions, agitation, and depression compared to white patients. Asian individuals had apathy, nighttime behaviors, and appetite/eating changes more often than white individuals, adding up to greater impairment from unknown biological or other causes.
National Center for Health Statistics
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