New weight loss jab created with 'fewer side effects' than Mounjaro and Ozempic

A new weight loss drug is being trialled which works differently to the current version available for prescription or purchase.

The current jabs that can be prescribed are Wegovy and Mounjaro, while Retatrutide is currently going through trials, but these are all incretin-based treatments which work by mimicking gut hormones like GLP-1.

This other weight loss jab being worked on is something called an 'amylin analogue' which triggers different receptors in different parts of the body.

If GLP-1 is in your gut then amylin is in your pancreas, and that is where new drug Petrelintide is supposed to do its thing.

It's still in the very early stages of development so you won't be able to buy it or have it prescribed to you any time soon, but early indications suggest that while it's weaker for weight loss than the incretin-based treatments it may also have a lower rate of side effects.

Petrelintide is being tested at the moment and the weight loss results don't appear to be as strong as Wegovy or Mounjaro (Getty Stock Photo)

A new study published in The Lancet trialled 485 people who received a dose of Petrelintide or a placebo, which is injected once weekly.

It found that 28 weeks into the study those on Petrelintide had experienced between 7.9 percent and 9.8 percent weight loss, compared to just 1.7 percent of those in the placebo group.

According to Second Nature, someone on Wegovy can expect to have lost between 9.5 and 14 percent of body weight after 28 weeks, while a person prescribed Mounjaro is likely to be seeing between 10 and 17 percent weight loss at that point.

Both of them would appear to be slightly stronger in terms of body weight loss compared to Petrelintide, though the latter treatment appears to have a lesser impact on side effects too.

20 percent of those on the drug experienced nausea, seven percent had diarrhoea and constipation and just three percent experienced vomiting.

However, before you get out the bunting for this drug with lower side effects remember it's at a very early stage of testing and was only trialled with a small group.

The side effects also appear diminished, though a doctor warned they haven't tested the drug against what's already on the market (Getty Stock Photo)

Dr Marie Spreckley of the University of Cambridge said that the study 'provides good evidence that Petrelintide produces weight loss over this period', but 'we cannot say from these results that it causes fewer side effects' because the drugs were not tested against the likes of Wegovy and Mounjaro.

Results from different studies can be compared but Dr Spreckley says it would be 'too strong' to make solid comparisons with GLP-1 receptor agonists.

She said: "The trial did not test Petrelintide against any of those medicines, so we cannot say from these results that it causes fewer side effects.

"Nausea was reported by 20 percent of people taking Petrelintide and six percent taking placebo, although vomiting and diarrhoea were uncommon.

"Three serious adverse events were considered related to Petrelintide, including two cases of gallstones and one of obstructive pancreatitis.

"Weight loss continued to 42 weeks, reaching 10.7 percent in one dose group, but this was a secondary result. We also cannot tell from this study whether people would be more likely to stay on Petrelintide than on an existing treatment.

"The results are promising, but larger and longer trials, including a direct comparison, are needed before making claims about better tolerability."