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Compounds · Oral incretins

Why oral semaglutide needs an absorption enhancer at all — what changed since

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Solved by t.batista in post #2
Having read the exchange above, I think I was wrong earlier in this topic and I want to say so plainly rather than quietly editing. The correction was fair and I had been repeating something I had not checked carefully enough.

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AK
a.krastevTL2 Moderator23 Feb 2025#1

Asking directly, because I could not find a straight answer: Why oral semaglutide needs an absorption enhancer at all — what changed since

Session topic: STEP 2 (Lancet, 2021). Please read it before posting; the discussion is much better when everyone has.

The question I would like us to start with is what the trial set out to estimate, rather than what it found. Once that is on the table we can talk about whether the design could have answered it, and only then about the numbers.

Specific things I would like covered: the population and how far it generalises, how discontinuation was handled, whether the comparator was a fair one, and what the absolute rather than relative effect looks like.

I will summarise at the end and the summary will feed the relevant digest page.

5 likes 17mo
TB
t.batistaTL2 Moderator Solution24 Apr 2025#2

Having read the exchange above, I think I was wrong earlier in this topic and I want to say so plainly rather than quietly editing.

The correction was fair and I had been repeating something I had not checked carefully enough.

9 likes 15mo
K
KStephanopoulosTL3Regular7 Jun 2025#3

post #2 answers the question as asked. The question underneath it is different.

Oral bioavailability is variable between people. Some people absorb well; others absorb poorly. That inter-individual variation is larger than with injectables and is one reason the trial data for oral formulations receives different treatment.

20 likes 14mo

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