Wegovy, Ozempic Drops Risk of Heart Attack, Stroke, Death: Study

The breakthrough weight loss drug Wegovy could have significant benefits for a person’s heart, according to newly published data by the drug’s manufacturer.

Novo Nordisk, the Danish company that makes the drug, previously said that a study found the drug reduced the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Today, the data was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

In a study of more than 17,500 patients, 8,803 of them received 2.4 grams of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and its sister drug Ozempic, and 8,801 received a placebo. 

Participants who received a weekly injection of the drug were 20% less likely to experience a heart attack, stroke, or another similar cardiovascular event compared to those who took a placebo. The semaglutide group was also 15% less likely to die from a heart condition, and 19% less likely to die of any cause than those in the placebo.

Participants were aged 45 or older, had a BMI of 27 or greater, and had pre-existing cardiovascular disease, but not diabetes. However, if a participant developed diabetes during the study period, they were allowed to stay in the trial.

In the semaglutide group, 1,461, or about 17% of patients, had adverse events serious enough to prompt them to drop out of the trial, compared to 718, or about 8%, of patients in the placebo group. Most of the issues in the semaglutide group were gastrointestinal disorders.

When Novo Nordisk first announced these results over summer, Novo’s stock price rose by 13%. The results, Novo hopes, will work to reduce the perception of Wegovy as a “vanity drug,” and to show that the drug has clinical as well as aesthetic benefit. 

While Wegovy and Ozempic have made Novo into one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies with demand to high it cannot quell it, the drug has been linked to severe side effects.  The pair of drugs have been linked to serious side effects like intestinal blockage, stomach paralysis and bowel obstruction.  

Its approval to treat obesity in teenagers older than 12 years old with obesity has also drawn criticism, saying that it could stunt growth and fuel eating disorders.