Many patients may keep off lost pounds after stopping a GLP-1, US data suggests

Many patients using highly effective GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy may not regain lost weight quickly when they stop treatment, according to an analysis of real-world data shared with Reuters that sheds light on a chief concern about the therapies.

Among thousands of patients treated at a large network of U.S. academic medical clinics, most had kept the weight off or lost even more 18 months after stopping semaglutide, sold by Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO), opens new tab as Ozempic and Wegovy, or tirzepatide, sold by Eli Lilly (LLY.N), opens new tab as Mounjaro and Zepbound, researchers from data analytics firm nference found.

Their data runs counter to findings by Novo, based on the Danish drugmaker's clinical trials, that caution many patients will soon regain lost weight if treatment is interrupted.

Obesity specialists have questioned whether people will need to use these medicines for years to maintain the benefits.

"The implication of our real-world evidence is not that rebound risk is negligible, but rather that durability is achievable in routine care," nference Chief Scientific Officer Venky Soundararajan told Reuters.

That should pave the way for a disease management approach for obesity, "where it's possible to better predict who can safely discontinue, who requires intermittent treatment, and who needs sustained treatment with GLP-1 drugs to preserve metabolic gains," he said. Patients who received exercise counseling after their last known GLP-1 prescription date were nearly twice as likely to maintain weight loss as those who didn't, the researchers noted.