By Dr. Asnat Raziel, bariatric surgeon specializing in obesity treatment, metabolic health and healthy longevity; Director of the Multidisciplinary Center for Obesity Treatment, Assia Medical, Assuta Ramat HaChayal, Tel Aviv
What to expect at the ObesityWeek conference in Washington
The ObesityWeek conference is the annual meeting of The Obesity Society. This year it takes place in Washington, D.C., from November 14 to 17. Ahead of the meeting, Novo Nordisk released a press release listing 26 abstracts it will present. I will be there, and I will update this page with what the presenters actually show.
The topics fall into three areas. First, treatment for young children. Second, Wegovy as a pill and as an injection in everyday care. Finally, new data on CagriSema, an investigational drug that has not yet been approved.
STEP Young: full results in children aged 6 to 12
The topic drawing the most attention is the STEP Young trial. It tested a weekly injection of semaglutide in children aged 6 to under 12 with obesity. All children also followed a reduced-calorie diet and aimed to be more physically active.
In September, the company released first results. The trial enrolled 165 children, and more than 85% of them had severe obesity at the start. After 68 weeks, 40.4% of the children who received semaglutide were no longer classified as having obesity. In contrast, none of the children in the placebo group reached that point. This figure assumes that all children stayed on treatment.
In addition, according to the company, the safety profile was similar to that seen in adults and adolescents. There were also no concerns about growth or puberty. I covered the trial in detail in my article on Wegovy for children.
Children at the ObesityWeek conference
The researchers will present the full results on Monday, November 16, together with a scientific publication. Keep in mind that semaglutide is not yet approved in the United States for children under 12. So the presentation at the conference is a research milestone, not a treatment recommendation. Parents of a child with obesity can read about treating obesity in children and teens today.
The Wegovy pill in everyday care: the OCTANE study
The Wegovy pill is a daily semaglutide tablet. The OCTANE study looks at the pill in the real world, through the Ro telehealth platform in the United States. In other words, it collects data from routine care rather than from a controlled trial.
The team presented first results in September at the EASD meeting. The study included 194 adults who switched from a semaglutide or tirzepatide injection to the Wegovy pill. After three months, they lost an average of 4.1% of their body weight, or 4.0 kg. Moreover, the share of patients with a BMI of 30 or higher fell from 87.1% to 65.5%. I went through the data in my article on switching from injections to the Wegovy pill.
Still, OCTANE has limits. Patients reported their own weight, and the analysis included only people who stayed on treatment. So the results do not apply to every patient.
What is new on OCTANE at the ObesityWeek conference
The meeting will feature further analyses from the same database. This time the researchers also looked at patients who started the pill without prior treatment. They will present who these new starters are, their weight loss after three months, and the change in food noise.
Food noise: the constant chatter about eating
Food noise describes repetitive, intrusive thoughts about food throughout the day. Many of my patients tell me that this quiet is the most meaningful change of treatment. Another study, SIGNAL, measured food noise with a validated scale called RAID-FN. The researchers followed adults who started Wegovy injections for six months. I wrote more about it in my article on food noise and the brain.
CagriSema at the ObesityWeek conference: lower doses and quality of life
CagriSema combines two drugs in one weekly injection. The first is cagrilintide, an amylin analog. The second is semaglutide. The meeting will present the main results of REDEFINE 9, which tested lower doses of the combination. In addition, analyses from REDEFINE 1 will look at physical and psychosocial function and at how quickly people respond to treatment.
One abstract that stands out looks at cagrilintide and the protection of bone mass during weight loss. It is important to stress that CagriSema is still investigational and has not been approved anywhere. For more, see my overview of how CagriSema works.
More on the program
The OPTIC study compared obesity medication preferences between adults aged 65 and older and younger adults. The SWEEP study looked at the experience of people who started the Wegovy pill with a digital support program. In addition, the ORACLE abstract compares short-term costs of the Wegovy pill and orforglipron, also known as Foundayo. I explained the differences between the two pills in my comparison of the Wegovy pill and Foundayo.
The bottom line
This year’s ObesityWeek conference points in a clear direction. Research is extending obesity treatment to younger ages, to pills, and to questions of quality of life and food noise. That said, some of the data are early, and some of the treatments are still in development. After the meeting, I will update this page with what the full results showed.
This article provides general information and is not personal medical advice. Always tailor treatment together with your own physician.
Sources
Wegovy® Pill OCTANE Study at EASD
Source of the data in this article: Novo Nordisk press releases.
