The usual dose of Novo Nordisk's expensive weight-loss drug Wegovy can be cut in half without affecting the results, researchers reported on Tuesday at the European Congress on Obesity in Malaga, Spain.
They tracked nearly 2,700 participants in an employer-sponsored weight-loss treatment program who were receiving the GLP-1 drug semaglutide - the main ingredient in Wegovy and Novo's diabetes drug Ozempic.
Patients experienced as much weight loss as was seen in earlier clinical trials, but with half the dose, the researchers said.
During the 64-week study, participants lost an average of 16.7% of their body weight on a mean dose of just 1.08 milligrams of semaglutide per week, substantially lower than the typical 2.4 mg dose.
This was true regardless of body mass index at the start.
Nearly 98% of participants lost at least 5% of their starting body weight, a threshold widely recognized as clinically meaningful. Many kept the weight off even after stopping the medication.
As GLP-1 use grows and employers' insurance plans need to adapt to the costs, "the study points to a path toward meaningful outcomes without escalating drug costs," the researchers said in a statement.
Some analysts have forecast sales of newer weight-loss drugs reaching $150 billion a year in the next decade.
Embla, the Danish digital weight loss clinic that led the program, uses a treat-to-target protocol that holds doses steady when patients are progressing, with fewer than 30% of users escalating beyond 1 mg per week.
"When care is designed around the patient, lower doses often prove sufficient," Nicholas Syhler, Embla co-CEO, said in a statement.
A report of the study by Soren Seier and colleagues at the University of Copenhagen is awaiting peer review.
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