Wegovy is linked to a reduced risk of heart attack, stroke, and heart-related death, according to the results of a new clinical trial.
The findings from Novo Nordisk are the first to show that a diabetes drug commonly used off-label for weight loss can also provide protective benefits beyond weight reduction.
Wegovy’s maker released limited details of their findings earlier this month, including that the drug reduced the overall risk of heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular deaths by 20 percent.
It did not break out the effects of the drug on each individual outcome and did not detail how much weight patients lost or provide any description of the side effects that were experienced.
Novo Nordisk said the drug appeared to be “safe and well-tolerated,” which is in line with what has been seen and reported in previous clinical trials. The data has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal or reviewed by any outside scientists.
The company said it would present its full trial results later this year.
“I would bet that when the [full] study comes out, we will see decreases in risk factors including blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol,” Ronald Freudenberger, MD, Physician in Chief at Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute, who was not involved with the trial, told Health.
“It will be important for it to go through the peer review process so we can see the details,” he said. “The initial announcement, however, is logical and makes sense.”
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Wegovy is currently FDA-approved for chronic weight management in the United States.
The company plans to ask the Food and Drug Administration to add cardiovascular benefits to Wegovy’s drug prescription label later this year.
“Weight management, even without the use of medications, is important as weight gain is directly tied to several cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypertension and diabetes,” Salim S. Virani, MD, PhD, a cardiologist at The Texas Heart Institute who was not involved with the trial, told Health.
“Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women, so being able to control a direct contributor to cardiovascular risk factors can go a long way to slow the progression of these mortality numbers,” he said.
The study results add to encouraging research that has found weight loss drugs to help reduce cardiovascular risks.
Ozempic, which uses the same ingredient, semaglutide, as Wegovy, had a similar clinical trial conducted that saw a 26% reduction in cardiovascular events. But unlike the new Wegovy clinical trial, that study was only done with participants who had diabetes.
The risk factors that contribute to poor cardiovascular health are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, family history, and smoking. While you can’t change family history, you can reverse high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes with weight loss, Freudenberger explained.
“Weight loss has a direct, profound effect on decreasing the risk factors for cardiovascular events and cardiovascular disease, so it makes lots of sense that a drug that reverses the risk factors will decrease cardiovascular events,” he said. “It’s directly reversing the contributors to bad cardiovascular health.”
Maintaining a healthy weight, with or without medication has also been shown to cause a general sense of well-being, more energy, reduction in stress levels, better sleep, improved immunity, better mental health, balanced hormones, and an overall enhancement in the quality of social life.
A potential side effect of the clinical trial is that it could help improve insurance coverage, as the findings undermine the argument that Wegovy is merely a vanity drug.
Wegovy currently costs over $1,300 a month before insurance, making it out of reach for many Americans whose insurance providers do not deem the drug medically necessary.
Medicare does not cover weight loss medications—some employer insurance plans have refused to pay for them, arguing that the drugs are not essential medical remedies. This new trial could prompt more insurers to pay for the drug, at least for patients who, like the trial participants, already had evidence of pre-existing heart disease.
“This outcome study strengthens the case for the use of semaglutide in patients who are overweight and obese,” said Virani. “We hope that this will help improve coverage for this medication.”
As more information from the clinical trial is released, its findings will hopefully allow researchers to study the relationship between cardiovascular events and weight loss, potentially providing more answers to how drugs like Wegovy can improve heart health.
Virani points out that patients considering taking Wegovy strictly for heart health should discuss their options with their treating clinicians.
Experts agree that this trial could change the outlook and narrative around obesity that has long been framed as the responsibility of the individual patient, and the result of their own personal choices.
“This study is indeed a landmark study,” said Freudenberger. “It shows that this class of drugs, used specifically for weight loss, decreases cardiovascular mortality, which makes physiologic sense. This makes a lot of sense.”