The 730 participants were randomly divided into groups, followed for a period of 48 to 72 weeks. One of them used a placebo, a fake medication with no effect. Another received semaglutide at a dose of 2.4 mg, which is recommended to treat obesity. Other groups only received applications of bimagrumab at different doses. And the last one was the semaglutide and bimagrumab combination. This one, in particular, delivered jaw-dropping results.
The semaglutide and bimagrumab duo promoted a greater initial weight loss, of up to 33%, compared to 16% to 21% with semaglutide alone. The weight loss for those who used only bimagrumab was between 13% and 18%.
However, what was surprising was where the difference shown on the scale came from: when the GLP-1 agonist was given alone, 29% of the weight lost was lean mass and, with the duo, the reduction in lean mass was 2.3%.
In other words, much of the result was actually melted fat. And this: 58% were visceral fatty tissue, the type that threatens health, increasing the risk of heart attack, diabetes and other diseases associated with obesity.
“BELIEVE is pioneering because it involves a medicine that has a completely different effect: preservation of lean mass with loss of fat mass at the same time”, says endocrinologist Bruno Halpern, president-elect of WOF (World Obesity Federation). “And what we saw in that first moment was truly spectacular,” he says.
Be careful with the results
Still, Halpern prefers to temper his excitement with a pinch of caution: “The fact that bimagrumab has a new mechanism of action has its risks,” he says, remembering that, in the search for treatments for obesity, several drugs failed in the studies for various reasons, from disappointing results to dangerous side effects. “Just because we are having incredible success with GLP-1 agonists does not mean that a new drug cannot be discarded in the midst of research.”
