Phase 2 study shows liraglutide reduces weight
Novo Nordisk has presented clinical results from a double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 study comparing liraglutide, the once-daily human GLP-1 analogue, with orlistat, a lipase inhibitor, for treatment of obesity in people who do not have diabetes.
Novo Nordisk has presented clinical results from a double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 study comparing liraglutide, the once-daily human GLP-1 analogue, with orlistat, a lipase inhibitor, for treatment of obesity in people who do not have diabetes.
The study demonstrated that liraglutide given once daily over 20 weeks at the highest dose led to a weight loss from baseline of just above 7 kg in comparison to a weight loss of just below 3 kg in the placebo group and a weight loss of just above 4 kg in the orlistat-treated group. All doses of liraglutide reduced body weight.
More than 75% of the people treated with the highest dose experienced a weight loss larger than 5%, and more than 25% experienced a weight loss larger than 10% relative to their body weight at randomisation. Finally, the study revealed a beneficial effect on systolic blood pressure after treatment with liraglutide.
In order to study the long-term weight reduction of liraglutide treatment, around 85% of all participants in the study volunteered to continue into an open label extension phase of the study.
Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, chief science officer, said: "We are very encouraged by these new results. They give us reason to believe that liraglutide has the potential to become a new and important treatment option in the fight against serious obesity."