Study: Semaglutide tablet produces weight loss

Denmark’s Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic, which contains the active substance semaglutide, has become widely talked-about since it has also been found to cause weight loss. The same substance is also approved for treating obesity under the brand name Wegovy. The drug is not yet available on the Swedish market for this indication.

Ozempic and Wegovy are administered as a weekly injection. Novo Nordisk has now presented results from a phase 3a study in which the same substance was tested against overweight and obesity, but where it was instead administered in the form of a daily tablet (50 mg).

The results show that participants in the study who received the medicine lost 15.1% of their weight after 68 weeks. The corresponding weight loss in the control group was 2.4%.

A total of 667 adults who were overweight or obese and had at least one additional disease were studied. According to Novo Nordisk, the medicine was well tolerated in the study. The most common side effects were gastrointestinal, and they decreased over time.

“The choice between a daily tablet or weekly injection for obesity has the potential to offer patients and healthcare providers the opportunity to choose what best suits individual treatment preferences”, said Martin Holst Lange, Executive Vice President for Development at Novo Nordisk, in a press release.