Novo Nordisk said on Friday a late-stage trial with a high-dose version of its weight loss drug semaglutide helped overweight patients lower their weight by 20.7%.

A high dose of Novo Nordisk’s obesity drug Wegovy led patients to lose substantial weight in a clinical trial, but still less than what’s been seen with Zepbound.

Wegovy, the weight-loss brand of semaglutide, has a recommended maintenance dose of 2.4 mg. Novo ran the Phase III STEP UP trial to evaluate the effect of increasing the maximum dose to 7.2 mg. The trial randomized 1,407 adults with obesity, but not diabetes, to receive either 7.2 mg or 2.4 mg of semaglutide or placebo.

Novo Nordisk said patients taking a bigger dose of its blockbuster obesity drug lost more weight than those on a lower dose, without experiencing an increase in side effects.

In the ongoing quest to expand semaglutide’s clinical pedigree and cement the GLP-1's market position, Novo Nordisk is rolling out new data on a higher-dose injection in obesity. | In the phase 3b STEP UP study,

Tripling the dosage of the Wegovy weight-loss drug leads to more weight loss, Novo Nordisk said Friday. The Danish drugmaker announced results from a Phase 3B trial of semaglutide at a 7.2 milligram dosage,