Semaglutide for weight loss: The STEP and SELECT trials
What you need to know
The weekly injectable GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide is approved for use in type 2 diabetes at a dose optimized for glucose lowering, of 1.0 mg/week. But the results of the first STEP trial show that at a higher dose of 2.4 mg/week it is also an effective weight loss agent, easily surpassing the effects of any currently available medication.
Browse this page for details of the completed and ongoing STEP trials, and the SELECT cardiovascular outcomes study, plus interviews with the researchers.
STEP 1 trial results
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.
