Weight loss drug semaglutide has proven safe and effective for people with schizophrenia

Weight loss drug semaglutide has proven safe and effective for people with schizophrenia

Weight loss drugs are effective in people with schizophrenia without affecting psychotic symptoms, University of Queensland researchers have found.

Professor of Psychiatry Dan Siskind said a 36-week study found that semaglutide - the active component in weight loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegven - was effective for people with schizophrenia who often experienced weight gain from taking anti-psychotic medications.

He said patients often stopped taking prescribed medication clozapine due to weight gain, and this finding will help inform clinical treatment guidelines.

People with schizophrenia have a 16-year life expectancy compared to the general population, largely driven by obesity-related diseases,” Professor Siskind said.

Study participants taking semaglutide lost nearly 14 percent of their body weight over the course of the trial, compared to those taking a placebo.

Antipsychotic medications are associated with high weight gain in patients, leading to poorer quality of life, shorter life expectancy, and poorer medication adherence. “

Dan Siskind, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Queensland

Professor Siskind, who works clinically as a psychiatrist at Metro South Addiction and Mental Health Services in Brisbane, said the results were significant and provided world-first evidence that semaglutide was safe and highly effective for weight loss in people with schizophrenia.

The study was conducted, meaning no pharmaceutical company was involved.

“Before this study, we did not know whether there would be drug-drug interactions with semaglutide or effects on mental status,” Professor Siskind said.

"We demonstrated that semaglutide did not affect psychotic symptoms or antipsychotic drug levels, indicating that it did not worsen their psychosis. We found no increased risk or drug interactions.

"The lean mass/fat mass ratio also improved in the semaglutide group, suggesting that more fat was lost than non-fat tissues such as muscle."

In Australia, semaglutide is not on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule (PBS) for weight loss.

“People with schizophrenia urgently need access to effective obesity treatments such as semaglutide,” Professor Siskind said.

“We would strongly advocate for access to the PBS list for semaglutide for this population.

“Many people with schizophrenia cannot afford to pay for it out of pocket, and I have a number of people with schizophrenia on clozapine who are using semaglutide for weight loss with the support of their families.

The research is published in Lancet Psychiatry.

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