A recent clinical trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, looked at whether a once-weekly treatment with semaglutide could help these patients better manage their condition.  

The trial included 1,961 patients with a body-mass index of 30 or greater who did not have diabetes.  

The patients were randomized to receive either a once-weekly dose of 2.4 mg of subcutaneous semaglutide or placebo for 68 weeks.  

Treatment during the trial also included a lifestyle intervention, which included individual counseling sessions every four weeks as well as increased physical activity. The patients were responsible for self-reporting their diet and physical activity in a diary, on a smartphone app, or another method.  

Co-primary endpoints of the trial included the percentage change in body weight and weight reduction of at least 5%.  

According to results published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the mean change in body weight at week 68 was -14.9% in the semaglutide arm compared to -2.4% with placebo.  

The authors noted that 86.4% of patients in the semaglutide group lost 5% or more of their weight compared to 31.5% in the placebo group.  

69.1% of patients in the semaglutide arm lost at least 10 percent of their weight, compared to 12% in the placebo arm, and just over half lost 15% or more on semaglutide compared to 4.9% of those treated with placebo.  

Treatment with semaglutide provided benefits beyond weight loss.  

The authors noted patients in the drug arm having a greater improvement in cardiometabolic risk factors and a greater increase in participant-reported physical functioning.  

The most common adverse events in the semaglutide arm included nausea and diarrhea. The events were “typically transient and mild-to-moderate” and “subsided with time.”  

Gastrointestinal events were the most common reason for patients discontinuing treatment during the trial, although those who discontinued treatment remained in the trial.  

“Currently, approved anti-obesity drugs require administration once, twice, or three times daily, and a once-weekly regimen may improve treatment adherence. The results of our study with once-weekly semaglutide at a 2.4-mg dose are consistent with the results of the phase 2 study, which showed an 11.5% greater reduction in body weight with once-daily semaglutide at a dose of 0.5 mg than with placebo after 52 weeks of treatment,” John P.H. Wilding, DM, the Department of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine, Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, and colleagues concluded. 


By Adam Hochron