Now before you go all, Oh no drugs are bad, you’re better off losing that weight naturally through exercise. Well, you’re right but it’s nice to have options. This drug might just be the thing you need to help you lose that holiday weight or the stay-at-home pandemic weight. The US Food and Drug Administration or FDA has just approved a new drug Wegovy.
Wegovy (semaglutide) is a new weight management drug that was first approved as a type 2 diabetes treatment back in 2017 but has since then been tested to be a game-changer for obese or ‘plus-sized adults. The drug was originally developed to increase insulin secretion in the body, hence the type 2 diabetes treatment approval.
It worked by acting like GLP-1, a naturally occurring hormone that is known to influence blood sugar levels and also suppress appetite. The hormone is actually produced by intestinal cells that help tell the brain when a person has eaten enough good. So since the drug acts like this hormone, I assume the guys at Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical company behind Wegovy, thought that maybe it works as an appetite suppressant as well.
So after multiple phase 3 trials that tested the drug as a weight-loss treatment, they concluded that the drug’s usage saw reductions of 15.3 kg or 33.7 lb. after 68 weeks. These numbers are higher than any other weight loss drug on the market. The amount of semaglutide used in this drug is double that used for treating type 2 diabetes. According to the FDA’s notes, the drug is approved for “chronic weight management in adults with obesity or overweight with at least one weight-related condition (such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, or high cholesterol)”.
While that’s good and all, one should not that the people is these tests usually follow a strict regime with a lot behavioral changes. The drug was administered weekly and all subject were directed to follow a calorie-controlled diet and engage in at least 150 minutes of physical activity each week.
According to John Sharretts of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, “Today’s approval offers adults with obesity or overweight a beneficial new treatment option to incorporate into a weight management program. FDA remains committed to facilitating the development and approval of additional safe and effective therapies for adults with obesity or overweight”.
The drug has been predicted to cost over $1,000 per month in the US.
