Hong Kong’s Department of Health approved Eli Lilly Asia, Inc.’s Mounjaro® (tirzepatide) in KwikPen® presentation, the first and only obesity and type 2 diabetes treatment of its kind that activates both GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) and GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) hormone receptors.1
Mounjaro is indicated for adults with obesity (with a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or greater), or those who are overweight (with a BMI of 27 kg/m2 or greater) and also have weight-related medical problems such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, obstructive sleep apnea or cardiovascular disease, to lose weight and keep it off. It should be used with a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity. Mounjaro is also indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with insufficiently controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus as monotherapy when metformin is considered inappropriate due to intolerance or contraindications or in addition to other medicinal products for the treatment of diabetes.
Obesity and diabetes are chronic diseases that can result in serious health complications, including heart disease, hypertension and stroke 3,4. As the first and only Hong Kong-approved, once-weekly GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist, Mounjaro is a single molecule that activates the body’s receptors for GIP and GLP-1, which are natural incretin hormones.
The approval was based on results from the phase 3 SURMOUNT and SURPASS trials. In SURMOUNT-1, a study in 2,539 adults with obesity, or excess weight and weight-related medical problems not including diabetes, people taking Mounjaro as an adjunct to diet and exercise experienced substantial weight loss compared with placebo at 72 weeks. At the highest dose (15 mg), people taking Mounjaro lost on average 48 lb., while at the lowest dose (5 mg), people lost on average 34 lb. (compared to 7 lb. on placebo).
Additionally, 1 in 3 patients taking Mounjaro at the highest dose lost over 58 lb. (25% of body weight), compared to 1.5% on placebo, according to data not controlled for type 1 error.
In phase 3 SURPASS program, efficacy was evaluated for Mounjaro 5 mg, 10 mg and 15 mg used alone or in combination with commonly prescribed diabetes medications, including metformin, SGLT2 inhibitors, sulfonylureas and insulin glargine. Participants in the SURPASS program achieved average A1C reductions between 1.8% and 2.1% for Mounjaro 5 mg and between 1.7% and 2.4% for both Mounjaro 10 mg and Mounjaro 15 mg.
