New drug recommended for people living with obesity

Thousands of people living with obesity are set to benefit from a new drug which has helped those using it to reduce their weight by more than 10 per cent.

NICE has issued draft guidance recommending semaglutide to adults with at least one weight-related condition and a body mass index (BMI) of at least 35 kg/m2, and exceptionally, to people with a BMI of 30.0 kg/m2 to 34.9 kg/m2.

Semaglutide can only be prescribed as part of a specialist weight management service with multidisciplinary input and for a maximum of two years. However, clinical trial evidence shows that people lose more weight with semaglutide alongside supervised weight loss coaching than with the support alone.

A randomised double-blind trial showed that participants taking semaglutide lost on average 12 per cent more of their body weight compared with placebo. The drug sees patients inject themselves once a week with pens pre-filled with semaglutide. The drug suppresses appetite by mimicking the hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which is released after eating. It makes people using it feel full, thereby resulting in people eating less and reducing their overall calorie intake.

It is estimated that 28 per cent of adults in England were obese and a further 36 per cent were overweight. Government estimates indicate that the current costs of obesity in the UK are £6.1 billion to the NHS and £27 billion to wider society.

Helen Knight, programme director in the centre for health technology evaluation at NICE, said: “We know that management of overweight and obesity is one of the biggest challenges our health service is facing with nearly two thirds of adults either overweight or obese. It is a lifelong condition that needs medical intervention, has psychological and physical effects, and can affect quality of life. But in recent years NICE has been able to recommend a new line of pharmaceutical treatments which have shown that those people using them, alongside changes to their diet and exercise, have been able to reduce their weight.”