Novo reports that semaglutide 2.4 mg maintains weight loss over 68 weeks

Novo Nordisk reported on March 23, 2021, that adults with obesity who took semaglutide 2.4 mg not only lost a substantial amount of weight but kept it off through 68 weeks of treatment ^[1]. The company presented these findings as part of the evidence supporting its pending application to the Food and Drug Administration for a new weight-management medicine ^[1].

The report came from a clinical trial tracking participants for 68 weeks, a length of time meant to show whether weight loss holds up rather than fading after the first few months ^[1]. This mattered because earlier GLP-1 medicines had shown weight loss, but regulators and doctors wanted to know if the effect lasted with continued use ^[1]. The March 2021 release did not appear in isolation. It was one entry in a long timeline of Novo Nordisk announcements about semaglutide that stretches from that early trial data through the drug's eventual approval and beyond ^[1].

About ten weeks after this data came out, the FDA approved semaglutide for weight management under the brand name Wegovy on June 4, 2021 ^[1]. The approval covered use alongside a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity, for adults with obesity or for adults who are overweight and have at least one weight-related health condition ^[1]. Wegovy is given as a once-weekly injection, with dosing that starts low and increases in steps up to 2.4 mg, the same dose studied in the 68-week trial ^[1].

Since that initial approval, the FDA has expanded what Wegovy is cleared to treat. In March 2024, regulators approved Wegovy to reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events, such as heart attack or stroke, in adults who have established cardiovascular disease along with obesity or overweight ^[1]. In December 2022, the FDA approved the injection for adolescents aged 12 and older with obesity ^[1]. More recently, in August 2025, Wegovy received accelerated approval for a form of liver disease called MASH in adults with moderate to advanced scarring, though continued approval for that use depends on confirming clinical benefit in a follow-up trial ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

The 68-week data from March 2021 was an early signal that weight loss with semaglutide 2.4 mg was not just a short-term effect, which is part of why the FDA later approved it for long-term weight management ^[1]. For people considering or already using Wegovy, this history shows the drug's approved uses have grown over time, from weight loss alone to cardiovascular risk reduction and, more recently, a liver condition, each based on separate trial evidence and separate FDA reviews ^[1].

The drug label carries a boxed warning about a risk of thyroid C-cell tumors, and other warnings include pancreatitis, gallbladder disease, and low blood sugar, among others ^[1]. Common side effects reported in adults and adolescents include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, and stomach pain, occurring in five percent or more of patients ^[1]. Wegovy is not recommended alongside other semaglutide products or other GLP-1 medicines ^[1].

What happens next

The sources describe a timeline of developments that continued for years after the 2021 trial data. These milestones already occurred as documented: the June 2021 approval for obesity, the December 2022 approval for teens, the March 2024 approval for cardiovascular risk, and the August 2025 accelerated approval for MASH ^[1]. What is not detailed in these sources is any specific future trial or regulatory decision tied directly back to the original 68-week weight-maintenance findings from March 2021, beyond the approval history already listed ^[1].