About this visual
A visual summary of 80-week Phase 3 retatrutide results on apnea-hypopnea index in adults with obesity and moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea, with and without type 2 diabetes.
Sources & further reading
Primary publications: Malhotra et al. · Tirzepatide for obstructive sleep apnea, NEJM 2024 ↗
AHI results are group averages from separate randomized trials and do not predict an individual response. The retatrutide and tirzepatide studies differed in populations and duration and were not head-to-head comparisons. Retatrutide is investigational.
Retatrutide is showing impressive results for obstructive sleep apnea, with new Phase 3 data published in the New England Journal of Medicine! (NEJM Group)
Retatrutide, Eli Lilly and Company's investigational triple agonist targeting GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon receptors, demonstrated substantial improvements in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) across two Phase 3 trials involving 691 participants, with and without type 2 diabetes.
Here are the results after 80 weeks:
🔹 TRIUMPH-1-OSA | Without Type 2 Diabetes (n=243)
Average reduction in apnea-hypopnea index (AHI):
Retatrutide 9 mg: 34.3 fewer events/hour
Retatrutide 12 mg: 31.7 fewer events/hour
Placebo: 9.9 fewer events/hour
🔹 TRIUMPH-2-OSA | With Type 2 Diabetes (n=448)
Average reduction in AHI:
Retatrutide 9 mg: 24.7 fewer events/hour
Retatrutide 12 mg: 25.4 fewer events/hour
Placebo: 10.3 fewer events/hour
For context, participants had an average baseline AHI of approximately 56–59 events/hour, indicating severe sleep apnea.
How does this compare to Zepbound (tirzepatide)?
In the Phase 3 SURMOUNT-OSA trials, tirzepatide reduced AHI by an average of 25.3 and 29.3 events/hour, compared with 5.3 and 5.5 events/hour with placebo, respectively, after 52 weeks.
Zepbound is already FDA-approved for moderate-to-severe OSA in adults with obesity, while retatrutide remains investigational.
These were separate trials with different populations, durations, and study designs, so we cannot conclude that one medication is superior to the other.
It's exciting that we're seeing more and more evidence that treating obesity can significantly improve serious obesity-related complications, not just body weight.
Sleep apnea is another example of why obesity treatment deserves to be viewed as much more than simply weight loss.
📚 Grunstein RR, et al. NEJM (2026); Malhotra A, et al. NEJM (2024).
#ObesityMedicine #Retatrutide #SleepApnea #GLP1