An Eli Lilly & Co. Zepbound injection pen arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Thursday, March 28, 2024.
The Food and Drug Administration approved Eli Lilly ‘s blockbuster weight loss drug Zepbound for treating patients with the most common sleep-related breathing disorder, the drugmaker announced Friday, expanding its use and possibly its insurance coverage in the U.S.
The weekly injection is now cleared for patients with obesity and moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, which refers to breathing interrupted during sleep due to narrowed or blocked airways.
An estimated 80 million patients in the U.S. experience the disease, according to Eli Lilly. Roughly 20 million of those people have moderate-to-severe forms of the disease, but 85% of cases go undiagnosed, the company told CNBC earlier this year.
FDA approves Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug Zepbound for sleep apnea
