People who switched from obesity injections to Novo‘s new Wegovy pill continued to lose weight after three months, according to an analysis of real-world data the company presented on Wednesday.
Real-world studies evaluate associations and can’t determine causality. But the results suggest that the Wegovy pill may improve upon the initial weight loss people experience on blockbuster injections rather than simply maintain it. It also suggests that patients may not need to take weekly shots like Wegovy and Zepbound forever, and can instead opt for more convenient treatments such as Novo’s pill.
Novo’s analysis used data from Ro’s telehealth platform on 194 patients with obesity or who were overweight, around 56% of whom were female. Half started on Novo’s Wegovy injection and the rest initially took Eli Lilly‘s shot Zepbound.
Patients who switched from an injection to the Wegovy pill and stayed on treatment for three months lost roughly 4% of their weight, or an additional 8.8 pounds, on average. That’s based on an average starting weight of around 221 pounds before taking the pill, Novo said.
Of those participants, 2 in 5 achieved 5% or more weight loss three months after switching to the pill. Meanwhile, the share of people with a body mass index at or above 30 decreased by more than 21% three months after switching to oral Wegovy. A BMI of 30 shifts a person from the overweight category into obesity.
“We have the unique benefit that, in the market, the subcutaneous Wegovy can now be interchanged with a tablet of Wegovy, and the patient can expect the same tolerability profile, the same safety profile, and actually a little bit more weight loss, which is what a lot of them want,” Martin Holst Lange, Novo’s chief scientific officer, said in an interview.
Among patients with available data, around 82% reported at least one improvement during treatment with the pill. That includes almost 70% who reported better-fitting clothes and around 51% who said they pursued healthier eating.
Around 75% of patients in the analysis said they were satisfied with the switch to a pill, according to Novo.
“I think we are seeing a shift where we, maybe just a year ago, we actually thought that the vast majority of patients who wanted treatment for obesity were happy with a subcutaneous treatment,” Lange said. “We see that picture differently now. We clearly see a preference for orals.”
He pointed to people who travel a lot and don’t want to think about refrigerating their injections.
It is among the first real-world evidence of weight loss outcomes among patients switching from blockbuster injections, particularly Novo’s Wegovy shot and Lilly’s rival Zepbound, to the new pill. But the study’s limitations include variable timing and completeness of the data collected during routine telehealth care, self-reported data being subject to bias and results “not being generalizable to the broader population,” Novo said.
The figures are also one of several new datasets Novo is unveiling this week on its obesity and diabetes pipeline at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Milan, Italy.
Also on Wednesday, Novo announced that its experimental next-generation obesity drug CagriSema reduced “food noise” — persistent thoughts about food — and showed benefits in organ and bone health. That’s based on results from a yearlong functional magnetic resonance imaging study, which is a noninvasive method to measure brain activity during specific tasks.
CagriSema is a combination of Novo’s semaglutide — the active ingredient in Wegovy — and a drug called cagrilintide that targets amylin. CagriSema is expected to launch early next year, followed by standalone cagrilintide and a higher-dose version of CagriSema in 2028.
In the study, Novo said CagriSema changed how the brain reacted to tempting, high-calorie foods in areas linked to cravings, pleasure and self-control in people with obesity or who were overweight.
“The signal in the brain changes in a way that actually is associated with improved quality of life,” said Lange.
The company added that CagriSema reduced harmful fat around abdominal organs, including in the liver and pancreas, in adults with Type 2 diabetes. Early findings also suggest that patients’ bone health was maintained despite substantial weight loss, Novo noted.
The drugmaker said the findings suggest CagriSema may address underlying factors of obesity and diabetes in the brain and multiple organs and tissues, rather than only impacting weight and blood sugar levels.
