Posted on 05/26/2023 6:46:08 AM PDT by Red Badger
Patients who took the pill daily, along with lifestyle changes, lost a lot more weight than those on a placebo.
Novo Nordisk has announced positive results for a new trial of a weight loss pill for obesity. The drug, called semaglutide, is currently sold as injections for treating diabetes and obesity, under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy. It has exploded in popularity lately for its ability to help people shed weight, sometimes dramatically.
In the new trial, patients on a daily oral dose of semaglutide saw a 15.1% reduction in their weight, compared to 2.4% in the placebo group — meaning additional 12.7% weight loss for those taking the pill.
”The choice between a daily tablet or weekly injection for obesity has the potential to offer patients and healthcare providers the opportunity to choose what best suits individual treatment preferences,” said Martin Holst Lange, executive vice president for development at Novo Nordisk.
Obesity is tied to a number of serious health risks, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, depression, and potentially increased risk of cancer — and obesity rates have been increasing relentlessly for decades. In 2008, the global obesity rate was about 24%; in 2023, it reached 39%, or 3.2 billion people.
A pill form of the same drug as Ozempic and Wegovy reduced patients’ weight by almost 13% compared to a placebo.
A blockbuster: Semaglutide is part of a group of drugs called “GLP-1 receptor agonists,” which are similar to the natural hormone GLP-1 that’s released by the body after you eat. GLP-1 helps the pancreas pump the proper amount of insulin into the blood when blood sugar levels are high, which is why these drugs started out as treatments for diabetes.
But GLP-1 also has another effect, which is to signal to the brain that you’re full.
It’s that second effect that has made semaglutide a household name and a hot topic on social media, as well as causing shortages at pharmacies. It turned out that people who were taking semaglutide for type 2 diabetes also tended to lose a lot of weight, leading to trials testing it as a treatment for obesity.
The injectable drug, sold as Wegovy, was FDA-approved for treating obesity in 2022, and since then it has broken out in a way few medications ever do, getting name-checked by celebrities and debated on social media.
Other GLP-1 agonists, like tirzepatide (currently sold by Lilly as a treatment for type 2 diabetes under the brand name Mounjaro), also cause similarly dramatic weight loss, in the range of 15-20% depending on the dose.
Powered by the clinical results — and word of mouth popularity — the drugs have become a cash cow for Novo Nordisk. Sales totaled $913 million last year, with another $666 million more in the first quarter of 2023 alone, FiercePharma reported. Demand for Wegovy has been so high that Novo has struggled to fulfill demand; the company told FiercePharma in March that it actually backed off marketing the drug because it couldn’t keep up.
While Lilly’s injectable Mounjaro seems to outperform both Novo Nordisk’s pill and another from Pfizer for weight loss, doctors may be more comfortable prescribing pills than injections, BMO capital markets analyst Evan Seigerman predicted to Reuters. Patients could benefit from this larger market and increased options, especially those incapable or uncomfortable with getting weekly injections.
The trial: The phase 3a trial of 50mg oral semaglutide, called OASIS 1, enrolled 667 adults with an average baseline weight of 232 pounds, as well as one or more comorbidities (such as diabetes). Both the group who received the drug and the group who received a placebo were given the same “lifestyle intervention” (essentially, diet and exercise).
According to Novo, the pill appeared to be “safe and well-tolerated.” The most common adverse events were gastrointestinal, something the oral version shares with the injectible, which both slow down the digestive system. Common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.
There are rarer but more serious side effects as well, including dehydration, kidney and gallbladder complications, a potential for increased risk of thyroid cancer, and an eye condition called retinopathy, typically caused by diabetes. A small percentage of people in the clinical trials experienced new or worsening retinopathy, which damages blood vessels and can lead to vision loss.
The drugs can also be costly, running easily into the thousands, and may not be approved for weight loss by your insurance. And trials thus far indicate that you need to keep taking the drug in order to keep the weight off.
These considerations need to be stacked against the many health complications of obesity and diabetes.
Novo Nordisk plans to apply for regulatory approval for the pill in the US and European Union in 2023.
just eat one pill every 10 seconds for 3 full weeks... guaranteed weight loss.
One pill makes you larger......
Patients who took the pill daily, along with lifestyle changes ...Emphasis added.
still better than a shot.
That Ozempic has a introduction taper that will help. Too much too fast will cause a pile driver in your gut! My Dr. started me on the injections at 0.25mg per week for a month then up to 0.5mg per week for 4 weeks then you should be used to the side effects and can handle a larger dose, some up to 2 or 3 mg a week. Ozempic shots are identical to the insulin auto injector.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/semaglutide-oral-route/side-effects/drg-20492085
More common: Anxiety, bloating, blurred vision. chills, cold sweats, confusion, constipation, cool pale skin, cough, darkened urine, depression, diarrhea, difficulty swallowing, dizziness, fast heartbeat, fever, headache, increased hunger, indigestion, large hive-like swelling on the face (eyelids, lips, tongue, throat, hands, legs, feet, or sex organs), loss of appetite, nausea, nervousness, nightmare, pain in the stomach (side, or abdomen, possibly radiating to the back), seizures, skin rash, slurred speech, tightness in the chest, trouble breathing, unusual tiredness or weakness, vomiting, yellow eyes or skin.
Maybe dieting and behavioral change would be the optimum route. Or just take a pill.....
pills are expensive, so no money to buy food...
Sell placebos as a weight-loss drug, but charge so much for them you won’t be able to buy food. BRILLIANT!
Just reading that litany of side effects ruins my appetite for a good while. I briefly tried Ozempic some 3 years ago, but took myself off of it because it left me nauseous 24/7.
Many others don’t have that problem and have great results.
Decades of government dietary advice... decades of fake but approved ‘food’... stress piled upon stress for all of the dysfunction every which way...
Obesity across the fruited plain.
Oh look, here’s “solutions”!
It’s a big business.
Few ever catch on.
I had no problem losing weight. I cut down my calories to 1600 per day. Worked great. Worst part was spending an hour a day looking up calories of food I made.
Huxley gave us this: "The history of medical fashions, it may be remarked, is at least as grotesque as the history of fashions in women's hats — at least as grotesque and, since human lives are at stake, considerably more tragic. In the present case, millions of patients who had no real need of the tranquilizers have been given the pills by their doctors and have learned to resort to them in every predicament, however triflingly uncomfortable. This is very bad medicine and, from the pill taker's point of view, dubious morality and poor sense."
It is a sort of skepticism which we find all the more warranted as the mRNA marketing pressures mount alongside "side effects." Because "medical fashions" like profits aplenty. Best wishes.
I’m not sure we should be screwing around with our pancreas.
I’ve read that there’s a pill equivalent and I’ve even seen TV ads. But I’ve read that the pill form is a pain in the neck to take correctly...there’s a complex routine connected to the pill. I’m on the injectable form...and it’s no problem at all. It’s a little,tiny needle that doesn’t even scare *me*,the biggest coward on the face of the earth.
True story: while working in the ER I'd often see little old ladies come in who worried too much about their health. They'd come in with things like headaches. After a full workup if the doctors didn't find anything they'd sometimes order what they call the "NaCl cure"...meaning a saline injection. Often when the patient got the saline injection they'd quickly report their pain was completely gone.
The placebo effect.
Well, yeah, they bought new clothes.................
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