Novo reports weight loss after switch to Wegovy pill

Novo Nordisk said a real-world study found that 194 people who switched from injectable obesity medicines to its daily Wegovy pill lost an average of 4.1% of their body weight over three months. Nearly 41% of participants lost at least 5%, according to the company-reported OCTANE results presented at a medical meeting in Milan on September 30. The study drew on data from patients using the Ro telehealth platform. Participants had previously taken injectable obesity treatments, including Wegovy or Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, before moving to oral semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy. The reported average starting weight was about 221 pounds. Novo said the share of participants classified as having obesity, based on the clinical threshold, declined from 87.1% at the start of the study to 65.5% after three months. The company also reported that 82 participants with available data noted at least one positive change, commonly improved clothing fit or nutrition. The reports do not specify the denominator for that available-data group. The results describe what happened among people who switched treatments, but they do not establish that the pill caused the weight loss.