Weight Loss Seen in Study of Liraglutide

Denmark’s Novo Nordisk reported results from a double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase II study comparing liraglutide, the once-daily human GLP-1 analogue, with orlistat, a lipase inhibitor, for the treatment of obese patients who do not have diabetes.

The study demonstrated that liraglutide given once daily over 20 weeks at the highest dose level led to a weight loss of approximately 7 kg compared with roughly 3 kg in the placebo group and approximately 4 kg in the orlistat-treated group.

More than 75 percent of the people treated with the highest dose experienced a weight loss of greater than 5 percent, and more than 25 percent experienced a weight loss of greater than 10 percent relative to their body weight, Novo Nordisk said.

The study also revealed a beneficial effect on systolic blood pressure after treatment with liraglutide.