Yasmina Kattou, edited by Gauthier Delomez / Photo credits: B. BOISSONNET / BSIP / BSIP VIA AFP
This is an expected revolution in France in the treatment of obesity. One of the future big stars of medicines will soon be produced in France. The large American pharmaceutical laboratory Lilly has just announced the installation, in its Alsatian factory in Fegersheim, near Strasbourg, of a production line reserved for Mounjaro, from 2026.
Used for type 2 diabetes in the United States, this drug is very effective for obesity, like Ozempic, this antidiabetic drug used by millions of people to lose weight. Mounjaro should receive marketing authorization for obesity at the end of the year. Hope for the 17% of obese people in France, or even for the 49% of French people who are overweight.
Feeling of full stomach
How does this medicine work? Like other anti-diabetics, it acts on the hormones responsible for satiety. People feel a full stomach, and therefore eat much less. Wegovy, which provides the same effects, is already used in the United States and has proven its effectiveness: obese patients have lost up to 16% of their total weight.
“We have never had drugs that are so effective, with so few side effects,” notes Jean-François Thébaut, vice-president of the French Federation of Diabetics, on Europe 1. “Very important studies show that the benefit-risk for obese patients is significant, in particular through the reduction of cardiovascular risk,” he underlines.
Different from Mediator
“Unlike Mediator, these are drugs that have marketing authorizations for the indication obesity,” continues Jean-François Thébaut. Used as an appetite suppressant, this misused antidiabetic, marketed by Servier laboratories, was responsible for one of the biggest health scandals.
It will be necessary to monitor the long-term effects of Wegovy and Mounjaro, specifies the doctor. He hopes to see these treatments marketed in France for the eight million people suffering from obesity.