‘Game-changing’ weight-loss drug helps overweight adults shed a fifth of their weight

A drug that can help overweight and obese people lose 20 per cent of their body weight has been dubbed a “game-changer”.

Researchers found the drug, which is based on a natural hormone, led a third of trial participants to lose one-fifth of their body weight within a year.

Three-quarters of participants who took the drug lost at least 10 per cent of their body weight.

The phase-three trial of the drug, Semaglutide, involved almost 2000 overweight and obese people from 16 different countries.

Head of the Centre for Obesity Research at University College London, Professor Rachel Batterham, said the Semaglutide is based on a natural hormone which tells your brain that you’ve eaten.

“People, as they develop obesity, this hormone goes down,” she said

“This is a real game-changer.

“Up until now the only other option was bariatric surgery.”

A lower dose version of the drug is already approved for use to treat diabetes.

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