Positive new trial results for obesity treatment Saxenda in early responders

New post-hoc data from the SCALE maintenance clinical trial showed that after 16 weeks of treatment with Saxenda(liraglutide 3mg), participants who lost an additional 5% or more of their body weight (defined as ‘early responders’) were more likely to maintain weight loss and achieve greater additional weight loss over 56 weeks, compared with people losing less than 5% body weight after 16 weeks of Saxenda treatment (‘early non-responders’).

In the trial, being presented today at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2017) in Porto, Portugal, adults who lost at least 5% of their initial weight during a low calorie run-in period were randomized to receive Danish diabetes care giant Novo Nordisk’s (NOV: N) Saxendaor placebo.

"In the obesity specialist setting, low-calorie diets combined with increased physical activity are commonly used to induce an initial weight loss in people with obesity. However, when the initial weight loss reaches a plateau and patients enter the 'weight maintenance phase' with less stringent caloric restriction, we often see that many experience weight regain," said Dr Sean Wharton, medical director at the Wharton Medical Clinic, Ontario and SCALE clinical trial investigator. "As a consequence, pharmacotherapy can be used to help people with obesity in maintaining the weight loss that has already been achieved by a low-calorie diet and increased physical activity. These data are very encouraging to clinicians in this specialist setting, because they show that early responders to Saxenda are able to both maintain and achieve additional weight loss," he added.