Semaglutide for weight loss: STEP and SELECT trials: Results from the STEP and SELECT trials

Read our round-up of the STEP phase 3 trials of semaglutide 2.4 mg in people with obesity, plus the SELECT cardiovascular outcomes trial.

Findings of the STEP 1 study show marked weight loss in people with obesity but without type 2 diabetes during over a year of treatment with a high dose of semaglutide.

The STEP 2 trial shows that overweight or obese people with type 2 diabetes achieve greater weight loss and larger improvements in cardiometabolic risk factors when given a higher semaglutide dose than is currently approved.

Add-on treatment with subcutaneous semaglutide 2.4 mg produces a marked increase in weight loss for people without diabetes undertaking an intensive lifestyle intervention to combat obesity, report the STEP 3 investigators in JAMA.

People with obesity continue to lose weight if they remain on semaglutide 2.4 mg after an initial 20 weeks of treatment, but gradually regain it if they switch to placebo, show the STEP 4 findings.

The substantial weight loss achieved with weekly semaglutide 2.4 mg is maintained if people continue to take the medication for 2 years, show the STEP 5 results.

The STEP 6 findings reveal significant weight loss, along with a reduction in abdominal visceral fat, in east Asian people with obesity taking a high dose of semaglutide.

Semaglutide 2.4 mg produces substantially more weight loss than liraglutide 3.0 mg in people with overweight or obesity but without diabetes, say the STEP 8 investigators.