- Allurion Technologies (ALUR) stock surged 46.50% to $3.34 after revealing that 52 patients using the Allurion Balloon with a low 0.25mg to 1.0mg dose of semaglutide lost 20.3% of their body weight and gained 15% lean mass (59.6% to 68.5%) over eight months, with all sticking to the treatment.
- This combo approach, praised by Dr. Luigi Flagiello and CEO Dr. Shantanu Gaur, tackles muscle loss and adherence issues seen in typical GLP-1 therapy (where 40% of weight lost is lean mass and 58% quit early), potentially setting a new standard for healthy weight loss.
Imagine a company finding a way to help people lose weight without losing muscle, all while making a popular treatment easier to stick with—that’s what Allurion Technologies (ALUR) is bringing to the table. On Friday, their stock soared 46.50% to $3.34, even hitting a high of $4.18 during the day, after they shared some exciting early results. They’ve been testing a mix of their Allurion Program, which uses a swallowable balloon to help control hunger, with a low dose of a weight-loss drug called semaglutide. This combo seems to be a game-changer for the 52 patients involved in the study.
Here’s the scoop: these patients started with the Allurion Balloon and, after a month, added a tiny 0.25mg dose of semaglutide. Over the next six months, that dose crept up but never went past 1.0mg—way less than the usual 2.4mg people take when using the drug alone. After eight months, the results were impressive: they lost 20.3% of their body weight on average. Even better, their lean body mass – the good stuff like muscle – jumped 15%, going from 59.6% to 68.5%. And here’s the kicker: every single one of them stuck with the drug for the whole eight months. That’s a big deal because, normally, 30% of people quit GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide within a month, and 58% drop out before seeing real benefits, often because of nasty side effects or the need to keep upping the dose.
Dr. Luigi Flagiello, a bariatric surgeon who ran this study at Clinica Ruesch, thinks this mix is a winner. He says the balloon makes you feel full while the low-dose drug keeps hunger at bay, hitting the problem from two angles. Plus, with a smaller dose, patients aren’t dealing with as many downsides—like losing muscle, which happens a lot with GLP-1 drugs alone, where studies show about 40% of the weight lost can be lean mass. This approach seems to dodge that pitfall, keeping people stronger while they slim down.
Allurion’s CEO, Dr. Shantanu Gaur, is pumped about these findings. He’s got a vision of turning this into a go-to option for folks who want to shed pounds without wrecking their metabolism. The Allurion Program isn’t just the balloon—it’s a whole package with a Virtual Care Suite and a behavior change program to keep patients on track. Unlike the usual GLP-1 path, where high costs and side effects push people away, this setup kept everyone in the game. With the stock jumping and plans to dig deeper into this method, Allurion might be onto something that could shake up how we think about weight loss—making it effective, sustainable, and easier to live with.
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