A ‘game-changing’ diabetes drug could help obese people shed up to 20 percent of their body weight, a trial suggests.

A study of 2,539 overweight and obese participants who did not have diabetes found a weekly dose of tirzepatide could lead to significant weight loss when used alongside diet and exercise.

The international research team split the volunteers into four groups and over a 72-week period they were given three different doses of tirzepatide or a placebo.

A ‘gamechanging’ diabetes drug could help obese people shed up to 20 percent of their body weight, a trial suggests. A file photo is used above

The group on the highest dose – 15mg – lost 3st 10lb on average, according to the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Fifty-seven percent of them lost 20 percent of their body weight.

Obesity experts told The Guardian tirzepatide was ‘gamechanging’, but warned of side effects such as vomiting and diarrhea, and said weight could be regained once people stop taking it.

The group on the highest dose – 15mg – lost 3st 10lb on average, according to the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. A file photo is used above

Yale University’s Dr. Ania Jastreboff, a lead author of the research, said: ‘We should treat obesity as we treat any chronic disease – with effective and safe approaches which target underlying disease mechanisms – and these results underscore that tirzepatide may be doing just that.’

But Tom Sanders, professor emeritus of nutrition and dietetics at King’s College London, said there are also concerns about the drug’s effects on the pancreas.

He added: ‘This class of drugs only works providing the participants stick to the reduced-calorie diet prescribed with the drug so it is not a magic bullet.’