A selection of injection pens for the weight loss drug Wegovy are shown in this pictogram in Chicago, Illinois, on March 31, 2023.
Jim Vondrowska | Reuters
wigsFamous weight loss drug Novo Nordisk Significant reduction in symptoms of the common type of Heart failure In patients with obesity, according to the late clinical stage trial Released Friday.
Wegovy helped mitigate symptoms Such as shortness of breath, fatigue, swollen legs, and irregular heartbeat. It also led to lower blood pressure and lower inflammation, two important markers of heart health.
The findings add to Wegovy’s growing list of potential health benefits that go beyond shedding unwanted weight. This could lead to expanded use of the drug and increased coverage by insurance companies. The findings also complement data from a pilot trial released by Novo Nordisk earlier this month, which found that Wegovy Risks lowered of serious heart-related problems by 20%.
“We look forward to working closely with the clinical community and regulators to help realize this potential over the coming months,” Martin Lang, Novo Nordisk’s chief development officer, said in a statement. He was referring to the heart-healthy benefits observed in both trials.
The new study of 529 obese patients focused on a heart condition known as preserved ejection fraction, or HFpEF — a condition that makes up nearly half of all cases of heart failure in the United States and occurs when the lower chamber of the heart pumps less blood than it needs. the body.
appreciate 2.5 million people In the United States suffer from this condition, and more than 80% of these patients are also obese.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that Wegovy resulted in an improvement of about 17 points on a 100-point scale used to assess HFpEF symptoms.
In comparison, patients who received the placebo improved by 9 points.
Wegovy also led to improvements in physical limitations: Patients who took the drug were able to walk a longer distance in six minutes than those who took a placebo.
People who used Wegovy also lost about 13% of their body weight, compared to 2.6% for those who took the placebo, over the course of the year-long trial.
There were fewer serious safety events in patients who took Wegovy than in those who took placebo. But more patients stopped taking Wiggoi due to gastrointestinal problems, which are commonly seen with other weight loss drugs.