A lower dose of semaglutide may achieve similar weight-loss outcomes as the standard dose used in clinical trials, according to findings presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Malaga, Spain.

Researchers tracked nearly 2,700 participants in an employer-sponsored weight-loss program who were prescribed semaglutide—the GLP-1 receptor agonist in both Wegovy and Ozempic. Over 64 weeks, participants lost an average of 16.7% of their body weight while receiving a mean weekly dose of 1.08 mg, substantially below the 2.4 mg dose typically used in Wegovy for obesity.

Efficacy was consistent across baseline BMI categories. Nearly 98% of participants lost at least 5% of their body weight, a threshold widely regarded as clinically meaningful. Some maintained weight loss after discontinuing therapy.

The study, led by Embla, a Danish digital weight-loss clinic, employed a treat-to-target approach in which doses were titrated only if patients failed to progress. Fewer than 30% of patients escalated beyond 1 mg weekly.

“When care is designed around the patient, lower doses often prove sufficient," Nicholas Syhler, Embla co-CEO, said in a statement. The full study, by Soren Seier and colleagues at the University of Copenhagen, is awaiting peer review.