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Novo Nordisk’s popular weight loss drug Wegovy just got backing from the European Union’s medical regulator to expand its use to include reducing the risk of serious heart events for people who are overweight or obese. The news opens the door for the highly-coveted weight loss drug to be prescribed to even more patients.
The Danish pharma giant said on Thursday that the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) drug advisory committee supported its plan to update Wegovy’s label to reflect its heart health benefits.
“We believe that the recommendation to update the EMA label for Wegovy is a significant milestone for people living with cardiovascular disease and obesity,” said Martin Holst Lange, executive vice president and head of Development at Novo Nordisk, in a press release.
The decision was based on data from a Novo Nordisk-funded clinical trial that found that semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, reduced the risk of major heart events like heart attacks, strokes, and death by 20%.
Novo Nordisk said it will add the expanded use on Wegovy’s label and prescribing info within a month.
The EMA’s backing comes just days after the United Kingdom’s medical regulator also approved the use of Wegovy to prevent heart attacks and strokes for people who are overweight and obese.
In March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did the same, opening access to Wegovy to millions of Americans under Medicare.
Sales of Wegovy and Ozempic have transformed Novo Nordisk into one of the most valuable pharmaceutical companies in the world. But the high demand has also made it hard for some patients to have their prescriptions filled.