Bimagrumab and Semaglutide: The BELIEVE Trial Results With Dr. Steven Heymsfield

Dr. Spencer Nadolsky, Dr. Karl, and chief science officer Dr. Grant Tinsley sit down with Dr. Steven Heymsfield, physician at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and lead author on the BELIEVE trial, to break down what happens when you combine bimagrumab with semaglutide and why over 90 percent of weight lost in the combination group was pure fat. Dr. Heymsfield has published over 600 peer reviewed articles and is widely considered one of the foremost body composition researchers in the world, and Grant Tinsley credits him as a foundational influence on his own work in the field.

In this episode they cover what bimagrumab actually is and how blocking the activin receptor causes muscle to grow, the origin story of the drug from Novartis to Versanus to Lilly and why sarcopenia research accidentally opened the door to obesity treatment, the nine group trial design and what it really boils down to, why the bimagrumab only group lost 7 percent of their weight entirely as fat without reducing food intake, the LDL cholesterol finding that has everyone talking and whether it actually matters, what happens to muscle and weight when you come off both drugs, why visceral adipose tissue practically disappeared in the antibody treated groups, the functional outcomes data including grip strength and physical activity scales, whether a subcutaneous version is coming, and what the future of this drug class looks like now that Lilly has deprioritized it.

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