Incidence of Achieving Weight Loss Goals in Usual Clinical Practice: Results for the TARGET-NASH Observational Cohort.

Challenge

Achieving and maintaining clinically meaningful weight loss is a primary treatment goal in NAFLD, but real-world data on what proportion of patients in usual care actually achieve standard weight loss thresholds—and how long they sustain them—were lacking, creating unrealistic assumptions in trial design.

Solution

The TARGET-NASH cohort was used to characterize the incidence of achieving 5%, 7%, and 10% weight loss milestones over time in patients receiving usual clinical care, providing empirical benchmarks for weight loss goal attainment rates in real-world practice.

Impact

Establishing that weight loss goal attainment in usual NAFLD care is substantially lower and less sustained than clinical trial benchmarks sets realistic comparator arm assumptions for NAFLD drug development programs and strengthens the case for pharmacological intervention as an adjunct to lifestyle modification.