NEW YORK (AP) — A new study finds that the medicine in the diabetes drug Mounjaro helped people with obesity or who are overweight lose at least a quarter of their body weight. That’s about 60 pounds on average. The people also did three months of intensive diet and exercise. A group of people who also dieted and exercised, but got dummy shots instead, lost weight initially. But they regained some. The study results were published Sunday. The drug is called tirzepatide. It is under review to treat obesity in the U.S. A decision is expected later this year.

The medicine in the diabetes drug Mounjaro helped people with obesity or who are overweight lose at least a quarter of their body weight, or about 60 pounds on average, when combined with intensive diet and exercise, a new study shows.

By comparison, a group of people who also dieted and exercised, but then received dummy shots, lost weight initially but then regained some, researchers reported Sunday.

“This study says that if you lose weight before you start the drug, you can then add a lot more weight loss after,” said Dr. Thomas Wadden, who led the study.

The results, which were also presented Sunday at a medical conference, confirm that the drug made by Eli Lilly & Co. has the potential to be one of the most powerful medical treatments for obesity to date, outside experts said.

The injected drug, tirzepatide, was approved in the U.S. in May 2022 to treat diabetes. Sold as Mounjaro, it has been used “off-label” to treat obesity, joining a frenzy of demand for diabetes and weight-loss medications including Ozempic and Wegovy.

All the drugs, which carry retail price tags of $900 a month or more, have been in shortage for months.