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Novo Nordisk (NVO) announced on Friday findings from a new analysis based on four randomized placebo-controlled trials, to highlight the potential of its weight loss therapy, semaglutide, in reducing the risk of heart failure events.
The GLP-1 agonist, marketed as Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for obesity, was approved by the FDA in March to reduce major adverse cardiovascular events such as heart attacks in overweight or obese people.
The data were based on the company's SELECT and FLOW trials, which enrolled obese and overweight patients with cardiovascular disease and those with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease, respectively.
The analysis also included data from Novo's (NVO) STEP-HFpEF and STEP-HFpEF DM trials, which enrolled patients with heart failure with mildly reduced ejection fraction or heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).
Citing peer-reviewed data from the analysis published in the medical journal The Lancet, the Danish drugmaker said that semaglutide cut the risk of cardiovascular death or worsening heart failure by 31% in patients with a history of HFpEF.
As for safety, 21% of patients in the semaglutide group discontinued the treatment due to adverse events, compared to 13.9% of patients in the placebo group.
"Collectively, this new analysis is the most comprehensive evaluation of semaglutide to date that assesses clinically relevant HF events, such as CV death and hospitalization," said Mikhail Kosiborod, lead study author and a cardiologist at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute.
Novo (NVO) has yet to receive U.S. regulatory clearance to market semaglutide to reduce heart failure outcomes.
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