Semaglutide cut weight in Chinese adults with overweight or obesity
Body weight fell 12.1% with once-weekly semaglutide compared with 2.2% with placebo over 44 weeks.
Double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter, registered NCT06041217
Limit: The trial was funded by Novo Nordisk, which makes semaglutide
Stake: Novo Nordisk, which develops semaglutide, funded the study; authors work for it, hold shares in it, take fees from it and receive grants from it. An author works for Eisai.
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, researchers tested semaglutide in 242 adults from mainland China and Taiwan with overweight or obesity. Participants had a body mass index—a measure of weight relative to height—of 24 to less than 28 with a weight-related condition, or 28 to less than 30; 121 were female, and 47 had type 2 diabetes. The abstract does not report their ages. Participants received once-weekly injections of 2.4 milligrams of semaglutide or a placebo, alongside lifestyle intervention, for 44 weeks.
Body weight fell 12.1% with semaglutide and 2.2% with placebo, an estimated difference of 9.9 percentage points. A weight reduction of at least 5% occurred in 80.5% of participants on semaglutide compared with 24.4% on placebo. Adverse events occurred in 141 of 161 participants (87.6%) given semaglutide and 61 of 81 (75.3%) given placebo, most commonly gastrointestinal disorders.
Why it matters
For aging research, the question is whether weight reduction in this population translates into better health in later life.
Caveats
The trial followed participants for 44 weeks and restricted enrollment to adults in mainland China and Taiwan within specific regional weight thresholds, so results may not apply to other groups or over longer periods. Additionally, the abstract does not report the participants’ ages or whether weight loss persisted after treatment.
The paper
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College; Northwestern University
The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, Aug 10, 2026
