Research shows Wegovy (semaglutide) injections lower type 2 diabetes risk by over 60%, with sustained treatment required to maintain the benefit, offering a promising option for obesity management.
The risk of type 2 diabetes is reduced by more than half by weekly injections of the new obesity drug Wegovy (semaglutide). This is according to new research being presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Stockholm, Sweden (September 19-23).
Semaglutide was recently approved in the US by the Food and Drug Administration as an obesity treatment[1] and has been provisionally approved by The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to treat obesity in England.[2]
“Semaglutide appears to be the most effective medication to date for treating obesity and is beginning to close the gap with the amount of weight loss following bariatric surgery,” says Dr. W. Timothy Garvey, who led the research. He is an endocrinologist and Butterworth Professor of Medicine in the Department of Nutrition Sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Semaglutide, which goes by the brand name Wegovy, works by mimicking a hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) that targets areas of the brain that regulate appetite and food intake. In the largest placebo-controlled trial of the weight loss medication, individuals who received semaglutide lost 6.2% of their initial body weight compared to those who received placebo.
“Its approval was based on clinical trial results showing that it reduces weight by over 15% on average, when used together with a healthy lifestyle program.
“This amount of weight loss is sufficient to treat or prevent a broad array of obesity complications that impair health and quality of life and is a game changer in obesity medicine.”
Obesity is known to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes at least six-fold and Dr. Garvey and colleagues were interested in whether semaglutide could reduce this risk.
To learn more, they carried out a new analysis of the data from two trials of semaglutide.
Significant Weight Loss and Reduced Diabetes Risk
In STEP1, 1,961 participants with overweight or obesity received a weekly injection of 2.4 mg of semaglutide or a placebo for 68 weeks.
STEP4 involved 803 participants with overweight or obesity. All received weekly injections of 2.4mg semaglutide for 20 weeks. They then either remained on semaglutide or were switched to placebo for the next 48 weeks.
Participants in both trials received advice on diet and exercise.
“Given the rising rates of obesity and diabetes, semaglutide could be used effectively to reduce the burden of these chronic diseases.” Dr. W. Timothy Garvey
Use of Cardiometabolic Disease Staging (CMDS) to Predict Diabetes Risk
The researchers used Cardiometabolic Disease Staging (CMDS) to predict the participants’ risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the next 10 years.
CDMS has been previously shown to be a highly accurate measure of type 2 diabetes risk and is calculated using a formula that factors in a patient’s sex, age, race, BMI, and blood pressure, as well as blood glucose, HDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels.
In the STEP1 participants receiving semaglutide, 10-year risk scores for type 2 diabetes decreased by 61% (from 18.2% at week 0 to 7.1% at week 68).
This compares to a 13% reduction in risk score for those given the placebo (17.8% at week 0 to 15.6% at week 68).
Risk scores mirrored weight loss, which was 17%, on average, with semaglutide vs 3% with placebo.
At the start of the trial, risk scores were higher in the participants with pre-diabetes than in those with normal blood sugar levels. However, treatment with semaglutide reduced the risk by a similar amount in both groups.
Sustained Treatment is Essential to Maintain Diabetes Risk Reduction
In the STEP 4 participants, the largest decreases in risk scores were seen in the first 20 weeks (from 20.6% at week 0 to 11.4% at week 20). In those who continued receiving semaglutide, the risk score decreased further to 7.7% but, in those who were switched to placebo, it rose to 15.4%.
This indicates that sustained treatment with semaglutide is needed to maintain the reduction in type 2 diabetes risk.
Dr. Garvey says: “Semaglutide reduces the future risk of diabetes by over 60% in patients with obesity – this figure is similar whether a patient has prediabetes or normal blood sugar levels.
“Sustained treatment is required to maintain the benefit.
“Given the rising rates of obesity and diabetes, semaglutide could be used effectively to reduce the burden of these chronic diseases.”
Notes
- https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-new-drug-treatment-chronic-weight-management-first-2014
- https://www.nice.org.uk/news/article/nice-recommends-new-drug-for-people-living-with-obesity
Dr. Garvey has served as a site principal investigator for multi-centered clinical trials funded by Novo Nordisk. He’s also received financial compensation from Novo Nordisk for serving on advisory boards.
This press release is based on abstract 562 at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD). The material has been peer-reviewed by the congress selection committee. There is no full paper at this stage.
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5 Comments
Would it be possible to have this ‘wonder’ medication in the form of patches to increase compliance given the huge population of obese/overweight individuals in society. Great as the results are, long-term compliance with injections in addition to cost implications would make this drug impractical and unaffordable. As exciting as the results are one would have to consider long-term uptake and convenience especially as the study indicates rapid return to obese state when drug is discontinued for placebo.
Exciting but some real work needs to be done to make it practical and accessible to the increasing population of prediabetic obese and overweight population
Unfortunately insurance hardly ever covers weight loss medication. I asked my physician and she says it’s very frustrating. She would love to be able to give it to me but unfortunately without coverage and I wouldn’t be able to afford it at $1000+/mo.
If they say being fat is an illness, then they need to provide treatment. Diets don’t work.
What are the side effects? liver, kidneys, mood?? People take awful risks in pursuit of weight loss.
Is it permanent, or does the weight come back after treatment stops? What are the unintended effects of long term use?
Fat people deserve treatment that does not destroy the body or mind.
I agree! My doctor won’t prescribe any GLP-1 med for me because my daughter had thyroid cancer (even though it’s the “other” thyroid cancer that isn’t caused by GLP-1 meds). Also, I became horribly sick the one time I tried taking Ozempic. So, there is nothing I can take, even if I can find insurance that will cover it with an affordable co-pay! I guess I’m just “fat”! It’s such a discouraging situation. As always, in the US, it’s the “have’s” vs the “have-nots.”
Where can I buy them