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Two new analyses of the longest clinical trial of semaglutide — the active ingredient in Wegovy — have shed some light on the long-term effects of the popular weight loss medication.
The analyses presented this week at the European Congress on Obesity in Venice, Italy found that people on Wegovy maintained their weight loss for up to four years and also saw hearth health benefits from the drug regardless of how much weight they lost. Both studies help boost the case for the expensive medication to be covered by insurers and governments. The list price in the U.S. for Wegovy, made by pharma giant Novo Nordisk, is $1,349 for a month’s supply.
Here’s what to know about the new research.
⚖️ Sustained weight loss
A new analysis of the SELECT clinical trial of over 17,000 patients found that people taking Wegovy lost an average of 10% of their weight after 65 weeks and maintained that weight loss for up four years.
The analysis was published Monday in the scientific journal Nature Medicine.
“The implications of weight loss of this degree in such a diverse population suggests that it may be possible to impact the public health burden of the multiple morbidities associated with obesity,” the study’s authors wrote.
🫀Hearth health benefits
Results from the SELECT trial previously showed that Wegovy reduced the risk of serious heart problems, such as strokes and heart attacks, by 20%.
A new analysis of the study found that people taking Wegovy enjoyed those benefits regardless of their weight when they first started taking the drug or how much weight they lost on it.
“Our findings show that the magnitude of this treatment effect with semaglutide is independent of the amount of weight lost, suggesting that the drug has other actions which lower cardiovascular risk beyond reducing unhealthy body fat,” Professor John Deanfield from University College London, UK, who led the study, said in a statement.