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Sgl8.5
Semaglutide Research
Mostly mechanism / observational
336 peer-reviewed studies
What the evidence says
Mostly mechanism / observational
Most Semaglutide studies are mechanism or observational rather than RCTs that measure a clinical effect — keep findings provisional.
Most evidence is from high-quality meta-analyses and randomised trials published 2016–2026 with a typical study size of 803 participants.
Based on 336 studies · 98 meta-analyses · 209 RCTs · 127,789 total participants
Confidence
High confidence
By outcome
Blood sugar & glycemic controlLarge, consistent HbA1c reductions across the SUSTAIN/PIONEER phase-3 programs; superior to dulaglutide head-to-head · Weeks to months · Combined glycemic control and large weight reduction improve overall metabolic status · Months
Mostly mechanism / observational156 studies
Weight managementSubstantial weight loss — mean ~15% body-weight reduction at 2.4 mg over 68 weeks in adults with obesity (STEP 1); over half lose ≥15% · Months (titrated over 16-20 weeks)
Mostly mechanism / observational134 studies
Cardiovascular outcomes20-26% relative reduction in major adverse cardiovascular events in dedicated outcomes trials (SUSTAIN-6, SELECT) · Months to years
Mostly mechanism / observational47 studies
Safety & adverse effects
Mostly mechanism / observational21 studies
Active research area
292 studies in the last 5 years · Latest meta-analysis: 2026
201620212026
1Meta-Analysisn=906 · large study2026
In plain English: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, GLP-1 RAs produced greater weight loss among women than men; however, their efficacy was consistent across other important subpopulations.
Alexander GC et al. · JAMA internal medicine (2026)
Of these, 48 RCTs could be individually characterized: they had a mean (SD) study population of 1181 (2513) participants; 51 trials were parallel (98.1%); 51 multicenter (98.1%); and 21 evaluated semaglutide (43.8%) and 9, dulaglutide (18.8%).
HTE was most commonly evaluated using baseline BMI (36 RCTs [75.0%]), HbA1c (24 [50.0%]), and age (21 [43.8%]), and less commonly, ethnicity (12 [25.0%]), race (11 [22.9%]), and sex (10 [20.8%]).
Among 6 trials (19 906 patients) analyzed by sex, weight loss was greater among women (10.9%; 95% CI, 7.0%-14.8%) than men (6.8%; 95% CI, 4.6%-9.0%).
In plain English: A primary cardiovascular end-point event occurred in 569 of the 8803 patients (6.5%) in the semaglutide group and in 701 of the 8801 patients (8.0%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% confidence interval, 0.72 to 0.90; P<0.001).
Lincoff AM, Brown-Frandsen K, Colhoun HM, Deanfield J, Emerson SS, Esbjerg S, Hardt-Lindberg S, Hovingh GK, Kahn SE, Kushner RF, Lingvay I, Oral TK, Michelsen MM, Plutzky J, Tornøe CW, Ryan DH; SELECT Trial Investigators. · N Engl J Med (2023)
Large cardiovascular-outcomes RCT: 17,604 patients with preexisting cardiovascular disease and overweight/obesity but WITHOUT diabetes
Subcutaneous semaglutide 2.4 mg/week reduced cardiovascular death, nonfatal MI, or nonfatal stroke by 20% (HR 0.80; 95% CI 0.72-0.90; P<0.001) over ~40 months
6.5% vs 8.0% event rate; established a cardiovascular benefit in a non-diabetic obese population