The country’s medicines regulator has approved the use of a GLP-1 weight-loss drug to treat people with sleep apnoea for the first time, broadening the applications for the popular drugs beyond diabetes and heart disease.

Eli Lilly, the global pharmaceutical giant, said the Therapeutic Goods Administration had approved the use of its Mounjaro weight-loss drug to treat moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnoea in adults with obesity.