EVMS researchers aided in landmark study of medication
Researchers at the EVMS Strelitz Diabetes Center are celebrating the landmark results of a clinical trial that offers exciting health benefits for obese adults with heart disease.
The EVMS research team was part of an international network of clinicians who studied Wegovy, a drug developed to control diabetes that also has been shown to help with weight loss. The nationwide research study involving obese adults without diabetes showed that the medication, also known as semaglutide, reduced the average risk of heart attack, stroke or heart-related death by 20 percent.
“This is the first time that a weight-loss drug alone has shown such protective effects,” says Elias Siraj, MD, David L. Bernd Distinguished Chair for Cardiovascular and Diabetes, Director of the Strelitz Diabetes Center, Chief of Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders and Associate Dean for Clinical Research.
“This is a tremendously important result,” Dr. Siraj says. “It is the first time that any medication given to obese patients without diabetes has been shown to demonstrate cardiovascular benefits.”
Wegovy manufacturer Novo Nordisk announced the research results Aug. 8, 2023, in Denmark. The study was conducted across 800 sites in 41 countries. The trial enrolled 17,604 adults aged 45 years or older with overweight or obesity and established cardiovascular disease with no prior history of diabetes.
The medication, taken by injection once weekly, showed a 20 percent reduction in major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) compared to a placebo over the length of the five-year study. Patients were selected at random to receive the medication or a placebo.