DUBLIN, May 19 (Reuters) – Taking Novo Nordisk’s ( NOVOb.CO ) new obesity drug can help reduce the risk of heart disease and help you lose weight, according to a new study from the United States.
A year after semaglutide, marketed as Wegovi, patients’ risk of having a heart attack or stroke over the next ten years dropped from 6.3% to 7.6%, according to Mayo Clinic researchers. found.
The results, presented at the European Obesity Congress in Dublin this week, are among the first signs that weight loss induced by new GLP-1 agonist drugs such as Wegovi may have heart health benefits – something scientists had hoped for, but they still have a lot of general data to prove.
The study was conducted among only 93 patients, and the researchers said that more and larger studies are needed to confirm that the effect of the reduction in risk is actually less morbidity and long-term mortality.
Novo is expected to announce the results of the 5-year SELECT trial later this year, looking at the health effects of the injectable drug, specifically around heart disease. Investors, governments and insurers are eagerly watching the data.
Dr. Andres Acosta, one of the researchers, told Reuters, “It is very important, because obesity is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.
“So the question is with the drugs that are 15%. [average weight loss]Can we really improve cardiovascular risk and say that people are dying?
Risk is calculated using the American College of Cardiology’s calculator, based on data including blood pressure and cholesterol levels. The team assessed the risk before the patients – mainly white women, with an average BMI of 39.8, but no history of heart disease – a year after starting the drug.
The study was reviewed by the organizers of the congress, the European Association for the Study of Obesity, but the full paper is not yet available. The study was not funded by Novo.
Reporting by Jennifer Rigby, Editing by Louise Havens
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