Survodutide reduces body weight in obese persons without diabetes: Study

A new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine showed that when compared to a placebo, survodutide dramatically reduced body weight in persons without diabetes who were obese.

Although drugs with glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist action have revolutionized obesity therapy and demonstrated significant cardiometabolic benefits, there are still unmet requirements. Survodutide is an experimental, once-weekly injectable dual glucagon/GLP-1 receptor agonist intended for the treatment of adult obesity. Recent Phase 3 trials show that it promotes considerable weight reduction while also lowering visceral and hepatic fat. This dual mechanism is a viable strategy for enhancing overall metabolic health.

Adults with a body-mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher (weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters) or 27 or higher with at least one obesity-related complication (apart from diabetes) were randomly assigned in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive once-weekly subcutaneous administration of survodutide at a dose adjusted up to 3.6 mg or 6.0 mg or placebo, along with lifestyle modification counseling.

The percentage change in body weight and a decrease in body weight of at least 5% from baseline to week 76 were the two main outcomes. The treatment-regimen estimand, which takes into account the impact of any early termination of survodutide or placebo, the use of obesity drugs that are restricted by protocol, and a lengthy dose-escalation phase, was used to conduct the primary effectiveness analysis.

The mean age of the 725 participants (241 in the 3.6-mg survodutide group, 242 in the 6.0-mg survodutide group, and 242 in the placebo group) was 47.1 years; 294 of them (40.6%) were men. The mean body weight was 108.8 kg and the mean BMI was 37.9 at baseline.

According to the treatment-regimen estimand, the mean change in body weight from baseline at week 76 was –12.2% (95% CI, −13.6 to −10.8) for the 3.6-mg group, –13.0% (95% CI, −14.4 to −11.6) for the 6.0-mg group, and –5.4% (95% CI, −6.9 to −4.0%) for the placebo group.

Gastrointestinal symptoms (usually mild to severe) were the most frequent adverse event, occurring in 80.9% of individuals in the 3.6-mg group, 89.7% of patients in the 6.0-mg group, and 47.9% of participants in the placebo group. Also, there were no recorded fatalities. Overall, in a cohort of non-diabetic people with obesity, survodutide medication resulted in a considerably higher drop in body mass than a placebo.

Reference:

le Roux, C. W., Wharton, S., Startseva, E., Kloer, I. M., Hussain, S. A., Unseld, A., Bozkurt, B., Ard, J. D., Bays, H. E., Bogdański, P., Ekinci, E. I., Jastreboff, A. M., Ji, L., Ogawa, W., Pedersen, S. D., Pietiläinen, K. H., Sattar, N., Seufert, J., Stenlöf, K., … SYNCHRONIZE-1 Investigators. (2026). Survodutide once weekly for the treatment of adults with obesity. The New England Journal of Medicine, NEJMoa2600751. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2600751