Research trial reveals new way to treat patients with major cause of liver disease

20 November 2025 - Weight loss medication may have benefits for patients with liver disease

A secondary analysis of the large phase III ESSENCE trial indicates that semaglutide – the weight loss medication widely known as Ozempic or Wegovy – could directly improve the damage caused by the condition metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).

MASH – previously known as NASH – is one of the most common and fastest-growing causes of chronic liver disease worldwide. It affects an estimated 6% of adults and over 30% of people with obesity or diabetes. Left untreated, it can lead to cirrhosis, cancer or needing a liver transplant. Until recently, the only way to treat MASH was through lifestyle changes such as diet, exercise and weight loss.

Co-led by Professor Phillip Newsome, Director of the Roger Williams Institute of Liver Studies, a clinical academic partnership between King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Foundation for Liver Research, and King’s College London, the ESSENCE phase 3 clinical trial has been investigating the benefits and safety of semaglutide for people living with MASH.

A secondary analysis of trial’s results, presented by Professor Newsome at this month’s American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) meeting, shows that patients taking semaglutide were nearly four times as likely to recover from MASH without worsening liver scarring compared to those on placebo. And even more strikingly, those benefits appeared both in patients who lost significant weight and in those who didn’t.

Professor Newsome said: “These findings are hugely encouraging. They suggest semaglutide can benefit the liver through multiple pathways, not just through weight loss. That gives patients and clinicians a real sense of optimism.”

Further research will explore how these weight-independent effects work at a cellular level – and whether similar benefits can be seen across different forms of what is sometimes known as fatty liver disease.