STEP 1 and STEP 3 Results with Thomas Wadden, PhD

With the obesity epidemic firmly rooted in the US and rapidly expanding its grip throughout the rest of the world, avenues for mitigating the risk of obesity itself and its complications are crucial to the wellbeing of patients and the population as a whole.

Currently, most avenues for weight loss include intensive lifestyle interventions, increased physical activity, possible medication regimens, and bariatric surgery—the most aggressive treatment option. However, 2 new trials from Novo Nordisk’s STEP program suggest an alternate dosage of subcutaneous semaglutide could be the answer to addressing the issue.

Already approved in 0.5 and 1.0 mg dosage as an adjunct therapy for patients with type 2 diabetes, the STEP program is aimed at assessing subcutaneous semaglutide for the treatment of obesity. In total, the program includes 5 trials examining a 2.4 mg dosage of the GLP1-RA.

At the beginning of March 2021, the results of STEP 1 and STEP 3 had been published in full in the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA, respectively. Both trials demonstrated the beneficial effects of subcutaneous semaglutide in overweight or obese patients, with the major difference between the trials being the intensive behavioral treatment undergone by those in STEP 3.

For further insight into the effects of subcutaneous semaglutide and key differences between the trials included in the STEP program, Endocrinology Network™ reached out to Thomas Wadden, PhD, a clinical psychologist and principal investigator of STEP 1 and STEP 3.