EQ-5D health utility gains with once-weekly semaglutide 2.4 mg in people with MASH and F2/F3 fibrosis: An analysis of ESSENCE.

In 30 seconds

This exploratory analysis of Week 72 data from the Phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled ESSENCE trial assessed mapped EQ-5D health utility in adults with biopsy-confirmed MASH and F2 or F3 fibrosis. Among 800 participants, once-weekly semaglutide 2.4 mg plus standard of care improved utility compared with placebo plus standard of care: the estimated treatment difference was 0.03 (95% CI 0.01-0.06; nominal p = 0.0015). Effects were consistent across fibrosis stages. Utilities were mapped from SF-36 scores, rather than directly measured, and the analysis was exploratory.

Key findings

• At Week 72, the estimated treatment difference in mapped EQ-5D utility was 0.03 (95% CI 0.01-0.06; nominal p = 0.0015) in favour of semaglutide.
• The utility improvement was consistent across F2 and F3 fibrosis stages.
• Baseline mapped EQ-5D utility was approximately 0.78 in both treatment groups.

Why it matters

Health utility estimates can help describe quality-of-life effects in MASH and inform cost-effectiveness evaluations and health technology assessments. The observed improvement adds a preference-based quality-of-life outcome to the trial evidence, although it was derived by mapping SF-36 scores and should not be interpreted as a directly measured EQ-5D change.

What to keep in mind

This was an exploratory analysis using mapped, rather than directly measured, EQ-5D utilities; the source also notes use of a UK-specific tariff.