Patients could wean themselves off blockbuster obesity drugs like Ozempic or Wegovy without gaining weight back, based on a scientific study.
Data presented Sunday on the European Congress on Obesity in Venice, Italy, provides among the first evidence that it could be possible to stop taking Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic or Wegovy and never regain lost weight – assuming , it’s about maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
When drugs like Ozempic and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound first got here onto the market, they were touted as long-term medications, with research suggesting that patients regained large amounts of lost weight after they stopped taking the drugs.
The Danish study of patients using semaglutide, the energetic ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, together with a weight management program delivered via the Embla app suggests that tapering the medication – relatively than stopping it hard – could potentially prevent weight gain.
However, there have been only 353 patients within the sample of patients who discontinued semaglutide, representing a small study size. These patients had reached their goal weight and reduced their semaglutide dose over nine weeks. Patients continued to shed pounds throughout the taper phase, losing a mean of two.1% over the nine weeks.
The study also suggests that patients may have the option to keep up their weight for several months after stopping. Researchers had data from 85 patients 26 weeks after stopping semaglutide and located that they maintained a stable weight.
“The combination of lifestyle modification support and tapering appears to allow patients to avoid weight gain after stopping semaglutide,” said Henrik Gudbergsen, lead researcher and chief medical officer of Embla, in an announcement.
$100 billion market
Anti-obesity drugs have led to a surge in investment and a race to capture a market that might reach $100 billion by 2030, based on analysts at Goldman Sachs.
The study also checked out changing the way in which semaglutide doses are increased when patients start taking the drug. The 2,246 patients within the larger study began taking semaglutide together with advice from a dietitian. Through Embla in addition they had access to doctors, nurses and psychologists.
Patients’ doses were closely monitored and increased more slowly than standard treatment. Average weight reduction at 64 weeks was 14.8%, just like other studies of semaglutide.
