Healthy Returns: Novo Nordisk says high-dose Wegovy helped some patients lose nearly 28% of their weight

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Healthy Returns newsletter, which brings the latest health-care news straight to your inbox. Subscribe here to receive future editions. Novo Nordisk released new data on Tuesday that could help boost the case for the higher dose version of its blockbuster obesity injection Wegovy. It comes just one month after the launch of that 7.2-milligram shot in the U.S. Certain patients on that higher dose injection lose 27.7% of their weight on average at 72 weeks in a late-stage trial, according to a new analysis Novo presented at the European Congress on Obesity. Novo said those patients are a group of "early responders" who reacted faster to treatment, losing at least 15% of their weight after 24 weeks, or the first six months of treatment. Overall, people who took that higher dose in that study lost almost 21% of their weight on average. Before the launch of that new dose, the highest available injectable dose of Wegovy was 2.4 milligrams, which helped patients achieve more than 17% weight loss on average in the trial at 72 weeks. Here's why this new data is important. Novo is positioning this high-dose version of Wegovy to serve as a stronger competitor to Eli Lilly 's Zepbound, which has become the preferred obesity drug due to its higher efficacy. Zepbound has shown average weight loss of more than 20% in late-stage studies. …