Daily Dose: Novel Drug Therapy for Obesity Shown Effective Up to 46 Weeks

Patient Care brings primary care clinicians a lot of medical news every day—it’s easy to miss an important study. The Daily Dose provides a concise summary of one of the website's leading stories you may not have seen.

On June 26, 2023, we reported on a study presented at the 83rd Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association.

The study

Researchers conducted a phase 2 dose-finding clinical trial that included 387 participants with a body mass index (BMI) of 27 kg/m² or higher. Participants were assigned randomly to receive weekly injections of survodutide at either 0.6 mg, 2.4 mg, 3.6 mg, or 4.8 mg or a placebo for 46 weeks. During the initial 20 weeks, doses were titrated rapidly on a biweekly schedule and maintained for the remaining 26 weeks.

The investigators defined the study's primary endpoint as percentage change in bodyweight from baseline to week 46. Secondary endpoints were the proportion of participants achieving at least 5%, 10%, and 15% weight loss from enrollment to week 46.

The findings

At week 46, all 4 groups receiving survodutide had substantial weight loss compared to the placebo group. le Roux et al reported increasing doses of survodutide were correlated with greater loss of body weight in a clear dose-response relationship.

Compared to weight loss of -2.8% in the group receiving placebo, mean reductions according to survodutide dose were:

• 0.6 mg -6.2%

• 2.4 mg -12.5%

• 3.6 mg -13.2%

• 4.8 mg -14.9%

Participants who reached and maintained treatment on the highest dose of survodutide (4.8 mg) at 46 weeks achieved weight loss of 18.7%. Further the majority (82.8%) of participants in this group reached weight loss of at least 5% at the 46-week mark, compared to 25.9% in the placebo group. Weight loss of at least 10% was reached by 68.8% of those receiving the 4.8 mg dose and a loss of 15% or more achived by by 54.7% in this high-dose group, compared to 11.1% and 5.6% of those receiving placebo, respectively.

A note from authors

“By activating both the glucagon and GLP-1 receptors, survodutide may inhibit both appetite and improve energy expenditure. The findings not only show significant weight loss with increasing doses of survodutide, but we also saw a favorable safety profile, reinforcing the potential clinical benefits.”

Click here for more details.