Semaglutide leads to substantial, sustained weight loss over 2 years

Overweight (≥1 weight-related comorbidity) or obese adults treated with semaglutide had substantial, sustained weight loss over 104 weeks compared with placebo, according to a study.

In the STEP 5 trial, 304 participants (236 of which were female) were randomly assigned to semaglutide 2.4 mg (n = 152) or placebo (n = 152). Overall, 92.8% completed the trial. All participants had efficacy assessed.

From baseline to week 104, there was a mean body weight change of -15.2% in the semaglutide group compared with -2.6% with placebo group and 77.1% of participants in the semaglutide group achieved weight loss ≥5% compared with 34.4% in the placebo group.

Gastrointestinal adverse events were reported in 82.2% of participants in the semaglutide group compared with 53.9% in the placebo group.

Reference
Garvey WT, Batterham RL, Bhatta M, et al; STEP 5 Study Group. Two-year effects of semaglutide in adults with overweight or obesity: the STEP 5 trial. Nat Med. 2022;28(10):2083-2091. doi: 10.1038/s41591-022-02026-4. Epub 2022 Oct 10. PMID: 36216945; PMCID: PMC9556320.