Science briefing: An update on GLP-1 drugs for obesity

Summary author: Walter Beckwith

2025-12-08

(Press-News.org) In a special 11 December event for science journalists, the Science Press Package team will revisit the topic recognized as Science’s Breakthrough of the year in 2023: the development of GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity and their efficacy in blunting obesity-associated health problems. The Mani L. Bhaumik Breakthrough of the Year Award that the American Association for the Advancement of Science, publisher of Science, gave to researchers whose work best underpinned the GLP-1 breakthrough was steered by a committee that included Dr. Katherine Saunders, obesity physician at Weill Cornell Medicine and co-founder of FlyteHealth. Dr. Saunders routinely works with media, responding to questions about how GLP-1s are prescribed as part of comprehensive cardiometabolic care. She recognizes opportunities for news stories on such topics to more accurately reflect the realities of the biology of obesity as a disease, and the science taken into account when treating patients with GLP-1s.

In this briefing, Dr. Saunders will take your questions on these topics. She will be joined by Dr. Robyn Pashby, a clinical health psychologist specializing in obesity-related behavioral science, and Dr. Tracy Zvenyach, a health policy researcher and Director of Policy Strategy at the Obesity Action Coalition. Dr. Pashby will discuss topics including the neurobehavioral links between mental health and obesity, and how GLP-1 medications influence motivation, reward processing, and treatment engagement. Dr. Tracy Zvenyach, who engages in policy advocacy and research to improve access to obesity treatments, will outline the coverage landscape, including how standard health insurance is working, and how it isn’t. She will also discuss policy implications of continued research into GLP-1s, which show a growing range of benefits.

The event will be held at 10am US ET on Thursday 11 December on Zoom. Register here to attend. Please plan to bring your questions! Note: This event is not tied to embargoed content.

END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Lower doses of immunotherapy for skin cancer give better results

2025-12-08

According to a new study, lower doses of approved immunotherapy for malignant melanoma can give better results against tumours, while reducing side effects. This is reported by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. “The results are highly interesting in oncology, as we show that a lower dose of an immunotherapy drug, in addition to causing significantly fewer side effects, actually gives better results against tumours and longer survival,” says last author Hildur Helgadottir, a researcher at the Department of Oncology-Pathology at Karolinska Institutet, who led the study. The traditional ...

Why didn’t the senior citizen cross the road? Slower crossings may help people with reduced mobility

2025-12-08

Road crossings need to slow down to allow people with mobility issues and older pedestrians enough time to use them, research has indicated. The time interval of crossings in the UK is more than two seconds shorter than people with reduced mobility need, according to a new study by researchers at the Universities of Bath, Birmingham and Exeter. Led by Dr Max Western from the University of Bath Centre for Motivation and Behaviour Change, the study found that just 1.5% of older adults with ...

ASH 2025: Study suggests that a virtual program focusing on diet and exercise can help reduce side effects of lymphoma treatment

2025-12-07

MIAMI, FLORIDA (EMBARGOED UNTIL DEC. 7, 2025, AT 6:00 P.M. EST) – Patients undergoing treatment for lymphoma often experience adverse side effects that can be so severe that they stop or slow treatment. But a new study shows that a virtual program focusing on diet and exercise is a feasible strategy for minimizing the side effects of cancer therapies and increasing treatment retention. Early findings from the LIFE-L study will be presented on behalf of the multidisciplinary team by Melissa Lopez, Ph.D., RDN, at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting in Orlando. Lopez is a postdoctoral ...

A sound defense: Noisy pupae puff away potential predators

2025-12-07

Insect pupae hiss like snakes for defense. A Kobe University team now reveals the mechanisms, opening the door to further studies involving predator reactions to defensive sounds. Just as you would shout or make noise to drive off a perceived threat, some insects have been known to produce defensive sounds. Some moths, for example, have been observed producing sounds to ward off predators at multiple developmental stages; pupal sound production has so far been attributed mainly to physical friction between body parts. “We became interested in this topic when ...

Azacitidine–venetoclax combination outperforms standard care in acute myeloid leukemia patients eligible for intensive chemotherapy

2025-12-07

(ORLANDO, Dec. 7, 2025) In a new trial, patients newly diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) fared significantly better with a combined regimen of azacitidine and venetoclax compared with conventional induction chemotherapy. The azacitidine–venetoclax combination (known as aza-ven) is the standard of care for older adults who are not fit enough for intensive chemotherapy. The trial is the first to test the superiority of this regimen to intensive induction chemotherapy, the current standard for fit patients. “Our study met ...

Adding epcoritamab to standard second-line therapy improves follicular lymphoma outcomes

2025-12-07

(ORLANDO, Dec. 7, 2025) In a new trial, patients with follicular lymphoma had a significantly higher response to treatment and a nearly 80% reduction in the risk of death or disease progression if they received epcoritamab in addition to the standard second-line regimen versus the standard regimen alone. The study is the first reported randomized controlled trial to test a bispecific antibody combination in follicular lymphoma and suggests the combination could offer an effective alternative to chemotherapy that can be safely administered on an outpatient basis. Based on the study results, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved epcoritamab with ...

New findings support a chemo-free approach for treating Ph+ ALL

2025-12-07

(ORLANDO, Dec. 7, 2025) A chemotherapy-free combination treatment outperformed a combination of targeted therapy and chemotherapy among patients with Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in a new study. The phase III trial, which included adult patients with no upper age limit, is the first formal comparison of the efficacy and safety of these two approaches in newly diagnosed patients with Ph+ ALL. Researchers say the findings offer reassurance that chemotherapy can be omitted without detrimental effects and suggest that a chemo-free targeted agent and immunotherapy combination could become the new standard of care for this patient group. “The chemo-free approach ...

Non-covalent btki pirtobrutinib shows promise as frontline therapy for CLL/SLL

2025-12-07

(ORLANDO, Dec. 7, 2025) Pirtobrutinib, a non-covalent Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, met the primary endpoint for non-inferiority in terms of overall response rate in the first head-to-head comparison with ibrutinib, a covalent BTK inhibitor. Based on the study results, researchers suggest pirtobrutinib shows promise as initial BTK inhibitor therapy, including in the frontline setting, for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL). Non-covalent BTK inhibitors were initially developed to overcome resistance to covalent ...

University of Cincinnati experts present research at annual hematology event

2025-12-06

University of Cincinnati researchers will present research at the 67th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition Dec. 6 to 9 in Orlando. Phase 1 data testing new CLL treatment encouraging A class of drugs called BTK inhibitors have become a standard treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic leukemia (SLL). However, the prevalence of new resistance mutations has created a need for new treatments in patients with relapsed CLL who progressed through approved standard of care options, said the Cancer Center’s Zulfa Omer, MD. “This is an area of unmet need, with current options providing ...

ASH 2025: Antibody therapy eradicates traces of multiple myeloma in preliminary trial

2025-12-06

MIAMI, FLORIDA (EMBARGOED UNTIL DEC. 6, 2025, AT 2:00 P.M. EST) – Treatment with an immune and cancer cell-targeting antibody therapy eradicates residual traces of the blood cell cancer multiple myeloma, according to interim results from a clinical trial conducted by researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. The findings will be presented Dec. 6, 2025, at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting in Orlando. None of the 18 patients who completed up to six cycles of treatment with the antibody linvoseltamab had detectable disease on highly sensitive tests. This preliminary ...

Science briefing: An update on GLP-1 drugs for obesity

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: