White House has denied reports that President Donald Trump was given access to an experimental weight-loss drug, retatrutide, under the FDA’s “compassionate use program”.
A STAT News report published Tuesday suggested that Trump had been given Eli Lilly and Co.‘s (NYSE:LLY) weight-loss drug retatrutide, despite the treatment not yet having received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.
Citing three anonymous sources, STAT News stated that the drug may have been administered to Trump, who recently turned 80. The report based its claim on the approved patient being a 79-year-old seeking treatment for refractory obesity, a severe condition in which an individual is unable to lose and sustain at least 5% of body weight over six months despite trying multiple treatments, including intensive behavioral therapy, medications, and dietary interventions at their maximum tolerated levels.
However, White House senior deputy press secretary Kush Desai refuted these claims in an X post, criticizing the speculative reporting. Desai stated, “…this application was not for the President,” and urged reporters to refrain from printing baseless speculations.
Trump’s Stance On GLP-1 Drugs
In a January interview with The New York Times, Trump said he had never used GLP-1 weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy or Ozempic, though he joked that he “probably should.”
In November, Trump announced agreements with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) to significantly lower the prices of their GLP-1 obesity and diabetes drugs while expanding Medicare and Medicaid coverage for the treatments.
Retatrutide Gains Momentum
Retatrutide, a triple hormone receptor agonist targeting GIP, GLP-1, and glucagon pathways, is currently under development by Eli Lilly. In May, the drug showed significant weight loss results in adults with obesity or overweight, excluding diabetes patients. The study reported an average weight loss of 70.3 pounds, or 28.3% of body weight, for patients receiving the 12 mg dose.
Further, in June, Eli Lilly highlighted the weight loss benefits of the drug for women across all stages of menopause, as reported. The findings were based on analyses involving more than 1,500 women enrolled in the ATTAIN-1 and ATTAIN-2 clinical trials.
Analyst William Blair said that Eli Lilly has positioned retatrutide as an ultra-high-potency obesity treatment. At the same time, analyst Andy Hsieh noted that, based on cross-trial comparisons, retatrutide delivered about 3 percentage points more weight loss than Eli Lilly’s Zepbound after 72 weeks, though investors had anticipated a wider advantage. He added that the 9 mg dose slightly outperformed Zepbound’s highest dose, while the 4 mg dose delivered results between those of Zepbound and Novo Nordisk A/S‘s (NYSE:NVO) Wegovy.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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