Boxes of Wegovy made by Novo Nordisk are seen at a pharmacy in London, Britain March 8, 2024.
Hollie Adams | Reuters
Patients taking Novo Nordisk‘s obesity drug Wegovy maintained a median of 10% weight reduction for as much as 4 years, in line with a recent evaluation published Tuesday from the longest clinical trial thus far on the treatment.
The highly popular drug also reduced the chance of heart disease no matter a patient’s weight, a second evaluation on the identical trial found. Each analyses were presented on the European Congress on Obesity in Venice, Italy, this week.
The findings make clear the long-term effects of Wegovy and add to growing evidence of the weekly injection’s broad health advantages. That might boost Novo Nordisk’s case for insurers and governments to cover the costly but effective drug.
Insurance coverage is proscribed for Wegovy, a part of a category of medicines called GLP-1s. Those obesity and diabetes treatments have soared in popularity over the past yr and work by mimicking a hormone produced within the gut to suppress an individual’s appetite. Neither Novo Nordisk or Eli Lilly, which has its own weight reduction drug, have been capable of produce enough supply to fulfill the insatiable demand for his or her treatments.
The 2 analyses construct on data published in November from Novo Nordisk’s SELECT trial. The findings from that trial showed that Wegovy slashed the chance of heart attacks, stroke and other serious cardiovascular complications by 20% in individuals who have obesity or are chubby and now have heart problems.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy for that purpose in March.
The SELECT trial, which included greater than 17,000 patients from over 40 countries, tested Wegovy for its cardiovascular advantages.
Participants weren’t required to trace weight loss plan and exercise since it was not an obesity study. Patients within the trial lost around 10% of their total body weight on average after 65 weeks on Wegovy, in line with the primary evaluation published within the journal Nature.
Patients continued to take the weekly drug over a period of three years and 4 months and sustained their weight reduction for as much as 4 years. Other research has shown that many individuals regain weight after stopping the drugs.
The second evaluation showed that patients within the trial reaped the center advantages of Wegovy no matter their weight after they began on the drug and no matter how much weight they lost on it.
For instance, the reduced risk of significant cardiovascular events for those on Wegovy, compared with a placebo, was similar amongst individuals who lost 5% or more of their body weight, those that lost lower than that and even those that gained weight.
The finding suggests Wegovy helps improve a patient’s heart health through methods beyond weight reduction, the study authors concluded.
Notably, the load loss within the trial was lower than the common 15% weight reduction observed in an earlier study on Wegovy’s effect on obesity.
However the researchers in the primary evaluation noted that the previous study was designed specifically for weight reduction and included structured lifestyle changes, similar to weight loss plan and exercise. The population that study followed was also different from the SELECT trial.
Safety results from the 2 analyses were consistent with the previous data from the SELECT trial. More people on Wegovy than individuals who got a placebo decided to stop participating within the trial due to uncomfortable side effects.
Patients also experienced uncomfortable side effects consistent with other GLP-1 medications, similar to nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and constipation.
