People who switched from obesity shots to NovoWegovy’s new Wegovy pill continued to lose weight after three months, according to an analysis of real-world data presented by the company on Wednesday.
Real-world studies evaluate associations and cannot determine causality. But the results suggest that the Wegovy pill could improve the initial weight loss achieved with the blockbuster injections rather than just maintaining it. It also suggests that patients may not need to take weekly injections like Wegovy and Zepbound forever, but can instead opt for more convenient treatments such as Novo’s pill.
Novo’s analysis used data from Ro’s telehealth platform on 194 obese or overweight patients, about 56% of whom were women. Half started receiving the Wegovy de Novo injection and the rest took first Elie Lilly” is powered by Zepbound.
Patients who switched from an injection to the Wegovy pill and stayed on treatment for three months lost about 4 percent of their weight, or an additional 8.8 pounds, on average. That’s based on an average starting weight of about 221 pounds before taking the pill, Novo said.
Of these participants, 2 in 5 lost 5% or more weight three months after switching to the pill. Meanwhile, the share of people with a body mass index of 30 or above decreased by more than 21% three months after switching to oral Wegovy. A BMI of 30 moves a person from the overweight category to obesity.
“We have the unique advantage that, in the market, subcutaneous Wegovy can now be replaced with a Wegovy tablet, and the patient can expect the same tolerability profile, the same safety profile and actually a little bit more weight loss, which is what many of them want,” Martin Holst Lange, Novo’s chief scientific officer, said in an interview.
Among patients with available data, approximately 82% reported at least one improvement while taking the pill. That includes nearly 70% who reported better-fitting clothes and about 51% who said they were looking for a healthier diet.
According to Novo, around 75% of patients surveyed said they were satisfied with switching to the pill.
“I think we’re seeing a shift where maybe just a year ago we thought the vast majority of patients who wanted obesity treatment were happy with subcutaneous treatment,” Lange said. “We see things differently now. We clearly see a preference for orals.”
He pointed the finger at people who travel a lot and don’t want to think about refrigerating their injections.
It’s some of the first real-world evidence of weight loss results in patients switching from blockbuster shots, particularly Novo’s Wegovy vaccine and Lilly’s rival Zepbound, to the new pill. But limitations of the study include the variable timing and completeness of data collected during routine telehealth care, self-reported data being subject to bias, and the results “are not generalizable to the broader population,” Novo said.
These figures are also among several new data sets Novo is unveiling this week on its obesity and diabetes pipeline at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Milan, Italy.
Also Wednesday, Novo announced that its next-generation experimental obesity drug, CagriSema, reduced “food noise” – persistent thoughts about food – and showed benefits for organ and bone health. This is based on the results of a year-long functional magnetic resonance imaging study, which is a non-invasive method for measuring 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 the way the brain responded to tempting, high-calorie foods in areas related to cravings, pleasure and self-control in obese or overweight people.
“The signal in the brain changes in a way that is actually associated with better quality of life,” Lange said.
The company added that CagriSema reduced harmful fat around abdominal organs, including in the liver and pancreas, in adults with type 2 diabetes. Early results also suggest that patients’ bone health was maintained despite substantial weight loss, Novo noted.
The drugmaker said the results suggest CagriSema could address the underlying drivers of obesity and diabetes in the brain and across multiple organs and tissues, rather than impacting just weight and blood sugar.
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