On Friday, Novo Nordisk, the Danish drugmaker, said that its highly popular “Wegovy” drug was revealed to considerably reduce heart failure in obese people, as the company aims to further create its claim for the medicine’s health advantages beyond weight loss.
The company said in a statement that after one year on Wegovy participants in the late-stage analysis lost weight and had a 16.6-point progress on a 100-point health scale based on a range of heart failure-related standards.
People in a parallel group without the treatment in the trial, known as STEP HFpEF, noticed 8.7-point progress, resulting in an estimated net advantage from Wegovy of 7.8 points.
Participated by 529 volunteers, the trial concentrated on a heart state known as preserved ejection fraction, or HFpEF, where heart muscles harden and pull in less blood, especially impacting fat people.
Martin Lange, head of development at Novo said that Wegovy was revealed to be able to reduce the disease burden for people with HFpEF and obesity considerably.
Novo presented the possibility of further health benefits from taking Wegovy, apart from losing weight and slashing the chance of heart disease, as shown in a bigger particular trial known as SELECT.
The Danish drugmaker also earlier this month published better-than-expected headline results from that study, saying the weekly injection cut the risk of heart attacks and strokes by 20 percent.
HFpEF accounts for approximately half of heart failure cases, with signs including shortness of breath and swelling of extremities.
The firm intended to supply Wegovy in more nations, albeit in a “constrained” manner as it will take years before it can satisfy international need, Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, Novo Nordisk CEO said.
