Novo Nordisk said patients taking a bigger dose of its blockbuster obesity drug lost more weight than those on a lower dose, without experiencing an increase in side-effects.

A high dose of Novo Nordisk’s obesity drug Wegovy led patients to lose substantial weight in a clinical trial, but still less than what’s been seen with Zepbound.

Novo Nordisk said a higher dose of its drug Wegovy led to greater weight loss in patients during a late-stage trial, but the results fell short of the weight loss achieved with Eli Lilly's rival drug Zepbound,

Novo Nordisk said patients taking a bigger dose of its blockbuster obesity drug lost more weight than those on a lower dose, without experiencing an increase in side effects.

People who stayed on a 7.2 milligram weekly dose of semaglutide lost around 20% of their body weight over 72 weeks.

Wegovy, the weight-loss brand of semaglutide, has a recommended maintenance dose of 2.4 mg. Novo ran the Phase III STEP UP trial to evaluate the effect of increasing the maximum dose to 7.2 mg. The trial randomized 1,407 adults with obesity, but not diabetes, to receive either 7.2 mg or 2.4 mg of semaglutide or placebo.

Novo Nordisk today announced headline results from STEP UP, a phase 3b trial in the global STEP programme. STEP UP is a 72-week efficacy and safety trial investigating subcutaneous semaglutide 7.2 mg compared to semaglutide 2.

Tripling the dosage of the Wegovy weight-loss drug leads to more weight loss, Novo Nordisk said Friday. The Danish drugmaker announced results from a Phase 3B trial of semaglutide at a 7.2 milligram dosage,

Novo Nordisk A/S’s blockbuster drug Wegovy was targeted for price cuts by the US government and suffered a setback in a new trial, adding to growing threats to the Danish company’s early dominance in the surging market for new weight-loss treatments.