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STAT+: Scholar Rock says its drug preserved lean mass in patients taking Zepound
Scholar Rock said its investigational therapy helped preserve lean mass among patients taking a powerful weight loss drug.
Scholar Rock said Wednesday that its investigational therapy helped preserve lean mass among patients taking a powerful weight loss drug, as concerns grow that patients taking new obesity treatments may be losing too much muscle.
A Phase 2 trial tested the drug, apitegromab, in combination with Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. Over 24 weeks, patients taking the combination lost 12.3% of their weight — 14.6% of which was lean mass and 85.3% of which was fat mass. In comparison, patients taking placebo with Zepbound lost 13.4% of their weight — 30.2% of which was lean mass and 69.5% of which was fat mass.
Apitegromab is an antibody that blocks myostatin, a protein that regulates muscle mass. The study was meant to be a proof-of-concept trial to establish that apitegromab’s mechanism works. Scholar Rock is planning to start clinical studies soon of a next-generation treatment, called SRK-439, which binds more effectively to myostatin.
