Raising the dose of Novo Nordisk A/S’s obesity drug Wegovy helped patients shed more pounds in a trial while still falling short of the weight loss seen with rival Eli Lilly & Co.’s Zepbound.Patients who took a 7.

Novo Nordisk (NVO) announced Friday that a higher-dose version of its popular obesity therapy, semaglutide, marketed as Wegovy led to 20.7% weight loss over 72 weeks compared to 17.5% weight loss achieved by regular semaglutide in a late-stage trial.

Novo Nordisk said patients taking a bigger dose of its blockbuster obesity drug lost more weight than those on a lower dose, without experiencing an increase in side-effects.

A high dose of Novo Nordisk’s obesity drug Wegovy led patients to lose substantial weight in a clinical trial, but still less than what’s been seen with Zepbound.