Gauging the Antiobesity Potential of Oral Semaglutide in Type 2 Diabetes in the Indian Context

Abstract

“Diabesity”, which combines type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity has emerged as a global epidemic in the modern world. Indeed, diabesity contributes significantly to increased morbidity, and the prevalence of this global health burden has steadily increased in India over the past three decades. Importantly, only a few pharmacological agents are currently available across the world, and India in particular has access to only a limited number of such agents. However, with the advent of oral glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) after its launch in India recently as an antidiabetic agent, the horizon to combat diabesity has expanded. With the available evidence from several phase 3 trials of oral GLP-1RA (PIONEER, Peptide Innovation for Early Diabetes Treatment), it is increasingly becoming apparent that oral semaglutide could have some potential to fulfil the US Food and Drug Administration criterion of an antiobesity agent.