Efficacy and safety of semaglutide compared with liraglutide and placebo for weight loss in patients with obesity: a randomised, double-blind, placebo and active controlled, dose-ranging, phase 2 trial.

Studied

A 52-week, randomized, double-blind phase 2 trial compared five once-daily semaglutide doses with liraglutide and matched placebo, alongside diet and physical-activity counseling. Percentage weight loss at week 52 was the primary outcome.

Who / model

The trial randomized 957 adults without diabetes who had BMI of at least 30 across 71 sites in eight countries.

Studied dose & schedule

Dose and schedule have not yet been extracted for this summary.

Found

Estimated weight loss was 2.3% with placebo, 6.0% to 13.8% across semaglutide groups and 7.8% with liraglutide. Every semaglutide dose outperformed placebo; doses of 0.2 mg or more outperformed liraglutide. Dose-related gastrointestinal symptoms, mainly nausea, were most common.

Limits

No author-stated limitation was included in the abstract. Week-52 weight data were available for 93% of participants, and participants and investigators knew the target dose despite being masked to treatment assignment.

Read summary source ↗ · Prepared 9/22/2026 · AI-assisted, source-based summary