GLP-1 drugs could become personalized for individuals, study says

Healthcare GLP-1 drugs could become personalized for individuals, study says Comments: by Patrick Djordjevic - 07/31/26 6:44 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Patrick Djordjevic - 07/31/26 6:44 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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(NewsNation) — A new study conducted by leading researchers across the U.S. suggests GLP-1 drugs could have a much greater impact beyond obesity.

GLP-1s have become known as something of a go-to weight-loss drug. The research, published in “Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism,” illustrated that a variance in dosage or type of drug can impact results.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, the Yale School of Medicine, and UT Southwestern Medical Center used information from over 13,000 overweight participants in trials and used a framework called the Cardiometabolic Efficacy Index, or CEI, as a scale to analyze the effectiveness.

The cardiometabolic factors, referring to the relationship between the heart and energy system, included body weight, waist circumference, HbA1c (blood sugar levels), systolic blood pressure, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol.

The higher-dosage GLP-1 agonists largely engendered greater cardiometabolic improvements.

Semaglutide injections at 7.2mg achieved the highest CEI, ahead of 36mg of orforglipron and 2.4mg injected semaglutide.

Researchers found all “delivered placebo-adjusted weight reductions of at least 10 percent of the participants’ body weight, on average.”

As it related to the strongest effects on blood sugar control, HDL cholesterol and systolic blood pressure, orforglipron was highest-rated. Semaglutide had the greatest effect on LDL cholesterol, total body weight and waist circumference.

“We hope that clinicians are encouraged by this study to take a more comprehensive and individual approach to treatment selection,” senior author Yong Chen, PhD, a professor of Biostatistics at Penn, said in the release.

“For patients, the key message is that there may not be a single ‘best’ GLP-1 therapy for everyone, and it all could really depend on what their individual goals and needs are,” the researcher added.

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