Semaglutide for weight loss

Semaglutide is a GLP-1 receptor agonist developed by Novo Nordisk. It acts on the same receptor as the gut hormone GLP-1, which signals fullness and slows how quickly the stomach empties. It is studied and approved for type 2 diabetes and for chronic weight management, and its largest weight trials are the phase 3 STEP programme, summarised below with the side effects they reported.

Semaglutide is the active ingredient in both Ozempic and Wegovy. Ozempic is indicated for type 2 diabetes; Wegovy is the weight-management brand, and the 2.4 mg arm studied in STEP 1 is the Wegovy dose. Both are prescription medicines.

Ozempic is a prescription medicine in the Philippines, and prescribing belongs with a licensed Philippine physician. Whether it suits you, and at what dose, is a decision for that physician. The semaglutide guide covers what the trials of semaglutide measured and the side effects they reported. What Philippine law says about registration and prescriptions is in the regulation hub.

Dated Philippine pharmacy prices for Ozempic are on the semaglutide guide, and for Wegovy on the Wegovy price page.

In STEP 1, a 68-week phase 3 trial of 1,961 adults with BMI of 30 or greater (27 or greater with at least one weight-related coexisting condition), without diabetes, body weight fell by 14.9% on the 2.4 mg arm, against 2.4% on placebo. Source

What happens after stopping was measured in STEP 4, a 68-week phase 3 trial in which adults who reached semaglutide 2.4 mg during a 20-week run-in were randomised to continue or switch to placebo: body weight fell by 7.9% on continued treatment and rose by 6.9% after the switch to placebo. Source

Every STEP trial on file, with its population and comparator, is on the semaglutide guide.

STEP 5, a 104-week phase 3 trial of 304 adults with obesity, or overweight with at least one weight-related comorbidity, without diabetes, compared semaglutide 2.4 mg with placebo and reported these adverse events:

• Discontinuation for adverse events: 5.9% on the 2.4 mg arm, against 4.6% on placebo.
• Gastrointestinal adverse events: 82.2% on the 2.4 mg arm, against 53.9% on placebo.
• Nausea: 53.3% on the 2.4 mg arm, against 21.7% on placebo.
• Diarrhoea: 34.9% on the 2.4 mg arm, against 23.7% on placebo.
• Constipation: 30.9% on the 2.4 mg arm, against 11.2% on placebo.
• Vomiting: 30.3% on the 2.4 mg arm, against 4.6% on placebo.

Source

The product labels also carry warnings for pancreatitis, gallbladder disease and thyroid C-cell tumours, the last seen in rodent studies. The GLP-1 side effects guide covers them in full.