Achieve More Weight Loss than GLP-1 Alone

Check out this new procedure, and learn about specifics, timelines, and cost!

Originally posted on obesity.news on January 19th, 2026

WATCH THE INTERVIEW HERE!

Your inbox, your DMs, and your doctors office may not be buzzing about weight loss balloons again. Yet. The reality is that current GLP-1 therapies may not be an adequate treatment for many, but may need to be combined with newer treatments and therapies. The gastric balloon is back, and this time, it is not surgery. It is not anesthesia. And it is not a lifetime commitment.

This week on Monday’s On The Pen Live (join us live at 11 central, or click to watch it back), I sit down again with Shantanu Gaur, the CEO of Allurion, to talk about their swallowable gastric balloon and why it is starting to show up in conversations alongside GLP-1 medications.

If you are on a GLP-1, thinking about starting one, or stalled out after early success, this conversation matters a whole lot.

GLP-1 medications work because they change biology. They slow gastric emptying, quiet food noise, and help your brain and gut finally get on the same page. But for some people, especially early in treatment or during plateaus, hunger signals can still sneak through. Portion size can still creep back up. Habits built over decades do not disappear overnight.

That is where mechanical satiety comes in.

The Allurion balloon is swallowed as a capsule, inflated once it reaches the stomach, and then removed naturally after about four months. No endoscopy. No surgery. No scars. In the interview, Shantanu walks through how simply occupying space in the stomach can reinforce fullness, reduce portion sizes, and help patients stay aligned with the signals GLP-1s are already trying to send.

We also get into real numbers. How much weight people are actually losing. Who this works best for. Whether this is meant to replace GLP-1s or work alongside them. What the price point is expected to be. And the question everyone keeps asking me, when will this be available in the United States?

Most importantly, we talk about the bigger shift happening in obesity care. This is no longer about one drug or one device. It is about stacking tools that respect the fact that obesity is a disease, not a discipline problem.

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