Obesity drug Wegovy reduces cardiovascular risks for those at high risk

Enlarge / Wegovy an injectable prescription weight loss medicine that has helped people with obesity. (credit: Getty | Michael Siluk)

The blockbuster diabetes and weight loss drug semaglutide (Wegovy, Ozempic, Rybelsus) reduced the relative risk of heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular deaths by 20 percent in high-risk patients with cardiovascular disease but not diabetes during a large and long randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

That overall risk reduction equates to 15 fewer cardiovascular events per 1,000 patients treated. People on semaglutide in the trial lost an average of 9.5 percent of their body weight, an 8.5 percentage-point drop over those in the placebo group.

The study, which was previewed in an August press release by the drug's maker and trial-runner Novo Nordisk, was published in full Saturday in the New England Journal of Medicine, timed to a presentation of the findings at the American Heart Association conference in Philadelphia.