Study: Body's Response Determines Success of Obesity Therapy
Hopes for obesity therapy are growing following research showing weight loss of almost 28%. However, experts remind the public not to fixate solely on the highest figure, as each patient’s response to treatment can differ.
That message emerged in Novo Nordisk’s latest analysis of the 7.2 mg dose of Wegovy, presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) 2026.
According to CNBC International, some patients were indeed able to lose an average of 27.7% of their body weight after 72 weeks of therapy. However, that achievement was only experienced by a particular group of patients who responded more quickly to treatment. The finding underlines the importance of understanding research results in full so that the public does not hold misguided expectations about the effectiveness of obesity therapy.
In the analysis, the patients with the best results came from the group known as early responders — those who managed to lose at least 15% of their body weight within the first 24 weeks of therapy.
This group subsequently recorded an average weight loss of 27.7% after 72 weeks of treatment. Nevertheless, they accounted for only about one in four participants receiving the 7.2 mg dose of Wegovy, and thus do not represent all patients.
When all study participants were counted without distinguishing groups, the average weight loss reached almost 21%. That figure remains higher than the 2.4 mg dose of Wegovy, which previously recorded an average weight loss of more than 17% over the same treatment period. The difference in results shows that the effectiveness of obesity therapy is influenced by each patient’s individual characteristics.
In medical practice, variation in response to treatment is common. Biological factors, metabolic conditions, comorbidities, lifestyle, and adherence to therapy can all influence the results a person obtains. Therefore, two patients receiving the same drug will not necessarily experience identical weight loss.
Even though they were not in the early responder group, other patients still obtained clinically meaningful benefits. Novo Nordisk’s data showed this group experienced an average weight loss of 15.4%.
In a release quoted by CNBC International, Dror Dicker, Associate Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel, stated that such a reduction is still substantial and clinically significant for patients with obesity.
The finding also serves as a reminder of the importance of reading research results comprehensively. Beyond looking at efficacy figures, the public also needs to understand who the study participants were, the methods used, and which patient groups obtained the greatest benefits.
Novo Nordisk also confirmed that, to date, there is no method to determine in advance which patients will become early responders. In other words, there is no guarantee that every patient starting therapy with the 7.2 mg dose of Wegovy will achieve weight loss of almost 28%.
According to CNBC International, the analysis was published roughly one month after the 7.2 mg dose of Wegovy was launched in the United States. Use of the new dose has begun to rise and has entered the standard formularies of the country’s three largest pharmacy benefit managers.
Nevertheless, a number of analysts believe further research is still needed to understand the long-term impact of the new dose on clinical practice and the broader treatment of obesity.
For the medical community, the latest findings reinforce the understanding that obesity therapy is not only about how much weight loss can be achieved, but also about how each patient responds differently to treatment.
Therefore, education about research results is an important part of developing increasingly personalised obesity therapy, so that healthcare professionals can help patients build realistic expectations and choose the treatment approach most suited to their individual conditions.