Novo Nordisk A/S’s weekly shot that reduces obesity in adults returned promising results in teens, according to a study that adds to a growing wave of potential interventions for the stubborn condition.
Novo’s semaglutide, cleared last year as Wegovy for use in U.S. adults, lowered a measure of body fat by more than 16% in obese adolescents, according to draft results of the company-funded study released Nov. 2 by the New England Journal of Medicine.
Over 250 million children and adolescents will be overweight or obese by 2030, according to projections from World Obesity Federation. When chronic, those conditions can put people at elevated risk of heart disease, cancer and other dangerous disorders.
The convergence factors contributing to waistline growth around the world — sedentary lives and calorie-rich diets — have become an opportunity for companies including Denmark-based Novo, Amgen Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co. that are advancing weight-control therapies in the market.
Novo boosted its forecast for sales and profit earlier Wednesday, citing demand for Wegovy and other drugs. Operating profit will rise 13% to 16% this fiscal year, up from an earlier estimate of an 11% to 15% increase, and sales will gain 14% to 17% in constant exchange rates, up from the earlier forecast of 12% to 16%.
Greater reductions
The study led by Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg pediatrician Daniel Weghuber enrolled 201 teens, all but one of whom was obese, with 180 completing the trial. Both the control and treatment groups received lifestyle interventions. However, research has shown that such modifications, although recommended by guidelines, often lead to only minor reductions in weight, with long-term results rarely achieved, the authors of the New England Journal article said.
About two-thirds of the participants received weekly 2.4-milligram shots of Novo’s drug for 68 weeks, leading to a 16.1% decrease in body mass index, while teens who got placebo shots saw a 0.6% gain in the measure of body fat. The adolescents who got shots of semaglutide also saw reductions of other risk factors associated with conditions like heart disease and diabetes, including waist circumference, blood-sugar measurements and some blood lipids, the authors said.
Serious adverse events were reported in 11% of those getting semaglutide group and 9% of those who received placebo shots. Data collection for the trial occurred from October 2019 to February 2022, according to a government study tracker.
Semaglutide is a glucagon-like peptide-1, one of a class of drugs that stimulates secretion of insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar levels. The drug likely spurs weight loss by decreasing appetite and food cravings, leading to better diet control and reduced preference for fatty, energy-dense foods, according to a separate Novo-funded trial in 2017.
The authors also noted that the reductions in weight and body mass index observed with semaglutide “were substantially greater than those reported among adolescents taking other glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists and medications for obesity.”
