![]() The Danish company hasn't disclosed Wegovy's price but said it will be similar to the price of Saxenda, an 11-year-old weight loss drug injected daily that now typically costs more than $1,300 per month without insurance.ĭr. Like other weight-loss drugs, it's to be used along with exercise, a healthy diet and other steps like keeping a food diary. Patients inject it weekly under their skin. Wegovy (pronounced wee-GOH'-vee) is a synthesized version of a gut hormone that curbs appetite. Wegovy also has a risk of depression and pancreas inflammation. The drug carries a potential risk for a type of thyroid tumor, so it shouldn't be taken by people with a personal or family history of certain thyroid and endocrine tumors. Those usually subsided, but led about 5% of study participants to stop taking it. Wegovy's most common side effects were gastrointestinal problems, including nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. In the U.S., more than 100 million adults - about 1 in 3 - are obese.ĭropping even 5% of one's weight can bring health benefits, such as improved energy, blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels, but that amount often doesn't satisfy patients who are focused on weight loss, Bays said.īays said Wegovy appears far safer than earlier obesity drugs that "have gone down in flames" over safety problems. Bays, who is also the Obesity Medicine Association's chief science officer, helped run studies of the drug. Harold Bays, medical director of the Louisville Metabolic and Atherosclerosis Research Center. "With existing drugs, you're going to get maybe 5% to 10% weight reduction, sometimes not even that," said Dr. In a comparison group getting dummy shots, the average weight loss was about 2.5%, or just under 6 pounds. Participants lost weight steadily for 16 months before plateauing. In company-funded studies, participants taking Wegovy had average weight loss of 15%, about 34 pounds (15.3 kilograms). The Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy, a higher-dose version of Novo Nordisk's diabetes drug semaglutide, for long-term weight management. Regulators on Friday said a new version of a popular diabetes medicine could be sold as a weight-loss drug in the U.S. On Friday, the FDA said this new version of a popular diabetes medicine could be sold as a weight-loss drug. This image provided by Novo Nordisk shows a package of the company's semaglutide medication, named Wegovy.
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