Zepbound Approved For Sleep Apnea

Topline

The Food and Drug Administration approved Zepbound as the first prescription medicine to treat sleep apnea on Friday—marking a significant win for the drug company Eli Lilly, which had Zepbound approved as a weight-loss drug last year.

Key Facts

Zepbound, an Eli Lilly drug, can now be prescribed to adults with “moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea and obesity” to improve their sleep, a press release from the company said.

Zepbound received FDA approval to be prescribed to overweight or obese adults in November 2023.

The Eli Lily release said adults who took Zepbound lost an average of 45 pounds—compared to adults who lost 4 pounds on a placebo—and had around 25 fewer interruptions from breathing each hour during sleep.

Obstructive sleep apnea is a common condition that occurs when the upper airway is blocked while sleeping, and its symptoms include loud snoring, gasping for air during sleep, dry mouth and daytime sleepiness, the National Council on Aging reports.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

Big Number

39 million. That’s about how many American adults have obstructive sleep apnea, according to the National Council on Aging.

Key Background

Zepbound is a Glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1, receptor agonist, which is a type of drug used to treat diabetes and weight loss by suppressing appetite and lowering blood sugar and A1C. Zepbound was the third drug approved for weight loss behind Wegovy and Saxenda. The FDA gave Zepbound “fast track” approval to study its uses for overweight or obese adults with comorbidities like sleep apnea in 2022, around when weight-loss drugs began growing in popularity. In April of this year, Eli Lilly said a late-stage trial of Zepbound showed promising results for treating sleep apnea symptoms in obese adults, furthering the belief that weight-loss drugs may have other health benefits. The CDC has previously warned that sleep apnea can give people an increased risk of several cardiovascular diseases like coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension and irregular heartbeats. The most common and reliable treatment for sleep apnea is a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, which delivers air pressure through a mask while one sleeps, according to the Mayo Clinic, though there are some other options—including surgery—if a person can’t tolerate a mask while sleeping.

Forbes Valuation

Forbes’ estimates Eli Lily has a market value of $731.8 billion, brought in $35.9 billion in sales this year, made $6.1 billion in profit and has $63.9 billion in assets—leading it to a rank of No. 174 on Forbes’ Global 2000 companies list this year. The drugs and biotech company also ranked No. 7 on Forbes’ Best Companies in America list for 2025.