Wegovy is the first weight reduction medicine revealed to have such beneficial benefits as reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death by 20%. The data is based on a large clinical study of adults with cardiovascular disease.
'Safe and Well-Tolerated Profile'
In a clinical trial including 17,604 people with heart disease and obesity or overweight without diabetes, Novo Nordisk compared Wegovy to placebo in addition to the standard of treatment for the prevention of major adverse cardiac events. The trial period of five years was dubbed "Select."
A 20% decrease in cardiovascular risk is more than many specialists were expecting to see. Cardiovascular risk was reduced by 26% in a comparable study for the type 2 diabetes medicine Ozempic, which also contains semaglutide, but this effect had not been shown in those without diabetes.
"Select is a landmark trial and has demonstrated that semaglutide 2.4mg has the potential to change how obesity is regarded and treated," said Martin Holst Lange, executive vice president for development at Novo Nordisk.
In keeping with its prior trial results, Novo Nordisk concluded that Wegovy had a "safe and well-tolerated profile" in this research.
For Better Insurance Coverage
Physicians who spoke to CNN said that the results, which have not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal, might lead to increased usage of the massively popular weight loss medicine and better insurance coverage.
Dr. Willa Hsueh, director of the Diabetes and Metabolism Research Center at Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University, also said prior to the results being released: "If the Select study is positive, it will add to the growing body of evidence that weight loss is not just cosmetic and will encourage insurers to pay for medications that reduce weight."
Reportedly, many US patients have had trouble obtaining insurance coverage for Wegovy, despite its high monthly cost of $1,349.
In order to increase insurance coverage, Novo Nordisk has announced that it would file applications with regulators to include the cardiovascular benefits in the drug's prescription guidelines. It has promised to provide the trial's full findings at a forthcoming scientific meeting.
Dr. Steven Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic told CNN prior to the research conclusions that more comprehensive data is needed to fully understand the results. He is also the trial's head investigator for Tirzepatide, an Eli Lilly medication for type 2 diabetes marketed under the brand name Mounjaro. Approval to use it for weight reduction is pending from the US Food and Drug Administration.
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