Novo Nordisk's CagriSema Linked to 25% Weight Loss in Women

Novo Nordisk's experimental obesity injection CagriSema was linked to 25% average weight loss among women over 68 weeks, giving a closer look at results across menopause classifications in a late-stage trial.

The analysis covered roughly 2,300 women with obesity or overweight. Women receiving placebo lost 3% on average. Both figures estimate weight change if every participant had remained on treatment without interruption; they are not the measured outcome for every participant.

The women were drawn from a Phase 3 trial involving roughly 3,400 adults. Across the full trial population, average weight loss was estimated at 22.7% with CagriSema and 2.3% with placebo under the same treatment assumption. Roughly two-thirds of participants were women.

A second analysis examined around 1,900 women by menopause classification.

Women classified as premenopausal had estimated average weight loss of 26.7% with CagriSema, compared with 2.1% with placebo. The corresponding figures were 24.8% and 1.7% for women classified as perimenopausal, and 23.1% and 2.6% for those classified as postmenopausal. Each estimate covers 68 weeks and assumes uninterrupted treatment.

Researchers assigned the menopause classifications after the trial using participants' ages, medical histories and recorded symptoms. The categories were not clinically confirmed in advance. Further study is needed to determine whether the numerical differences between groups reflect a reliable difference in treatment response.

CagriSema was also linked to reduced waist circumference among women overall and across the menopause classifications. Waist circumference provided a measure of abdominal fat alongside the trial's body-weight results.

The injection combines semaglutide, the ingredient in Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic, with cagrilintide, which acts on a pathway involved in hunger and fullness. Novo Nordisk is developing the combination to extend its obesity-treatment portfolio beyond Wegovy. The new analyses were conducted after the main trial, and their findings require further work to confirm.