Patients could wean themselves off blockbuster obesity drugs such as Ozempic or Wegovy without regaining weight, a scientific study suggests.
Data presented Sunday at the European Obesity Congress in Venice, Italy, provides some of the first evidence that it might be possible to stop taking Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic or Wegovy and not regain the weight you lost – provided to have a healthy lifestyle. maintained.
When drugs like Eli Lilly’s Ozempic and Zepbound were first launched, they were touted as long-term medications, with research indicating that patients regain much of the weight they lost when they stop to take the medications.
The Danish study of patients using semaglutide, which is the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, alongside a weight management program run through the Embla app, suggests that tapering the drug – instead of stopping abruptly – could potentially prevent weight regain.
However, only 353 patients were in the sample of patients who stopped semaglutide, representing a small study size. These patients reached their target weight and reduced their semaglutide dose over nine weeks. Patients continued to lose weight as they tapered, losing an average of 2.1% over the nine weeks.
The study also suggests that patients may be able to maintain their weight for several months after stopping. The researchers had data on 85 patients 26 weeks after stopping semaglutide and found that they maintained a stable weight.
“The combination of supporting lifestyle changes and tapering appears to allow patients to avoid regaining weight after stopping semaglutide,” said Henrik Gudbergsen, principal investigator and chief medical officer of Embla, in a press release.
A $100 billion market
Obesity drugs have led to a surge in investment and a race to capture a market that analysts at Goldman Sachs forecasts could reach $100 billion by 2030.
The study also looked at how doses of semaglutide increase when patients start taking the drug. All 2,246 patients in the larger study started taking semaglutide with advice from a nutritionist. They also had access to doctors, nurses and psychologists through Embla.
The patients’ doses were closely monitored and increased more slowly than standard treatment. The average weight loss was 14.8% at 64 weeks, similar levels to other semaglutide studies.
