FRIDAY, March 5, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Semaglutide 2.4 mg is associated with superior and clinically meaningful weight loss compared with placebo for adults with overweight or obesity and type 2 diabetes, according to a study published online March 2 in The Lancet.
Melanie Davies, M.D., from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, and colleagues conducted a phase 3, superiority trial involving adults with a body mass index of ≥27 kg/m2 with type 2 diabetes. A total of 1,210 participants, recruited from 149 outpatient clinics in 12 countries were randomly assigned to a subcutaneous injection of semaglutide 2.4 mg (404 participants), semaglutide 1.0 mg (403 participants), or visually matching placebo (403 participants) once a week for 68 weeks, together with a lifestyle intervention.
The researchers found that from baseline to week 68, the estimated change in mean body weight was −9.6 percent with semaglutide 2.4 mg, −7.0 percent with semaglutide 1.0 mg, and −3.4 percent with placebo. At week 68, the percentage of patients who had achieved weight reductions of at least 5 percent was higher for those in the semaglutide 2.4 mg group versus placebo group (68.8 versus 28.5 percent; odds ratio, 4.88). Adverse events occurred more frequently with semaglutide 2.4 mg and 1.0 mg versus placebo (87.6 and 81.8 percent, respectively, versus 76.9 percent).
“These results are exciting and represent a new era in weight management in people with type 2 diabetes — they mark a real paradigm shift in our ability to treat obesity, the results bring us closer to what we see with more invasive surgery,” Davies said in a statement.
Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Novo Nordisk, which manufactures semaglutide and funded the study.
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