RCT · 2024
Continued Treatment with Tirzepatide vs Withdrawal on Weight Maintenance (SURMOUNT-4)
Aronne LJ, Sattar N, Horn DB, et al. · JAMA
Withdrawal after 36 weeks of open-label treatment produced 14% weight regain, while continued treatment produced further loss — evidence that obesity pharmacotherapy behaves like chronic-disease therapy.
Key findings
- Continued arm: additional 5.5% loss
- Placebo arm: 14% regain over 52 weeks
- Cardiometabolic markers regressed with regain
Limitations
Open-label lead-in may inflate maintenance-phase contrast.