Category: GLP-1s

Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 medication, Rybelsus, reduced major adverse cardiovascular events by 14% compared to a placebo in a phase 3 trial, the drugmaker said Oct. 21. 

Research led by a Northwestern Medicine team found that, despite higher upfront costs, bariatric surgeries offer two more quality years of life compared to GLP-1 therapies.

Hundreds of clinical trials are researching how drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro affect a plethora of conditions, Nature reported Sept. 25. 

As the demand for GLP-1 drugs grows, there are several factors emerging that could result in its price decreasing. 

Wegovy and similar medicines have the potential to significantly reduce the risk of strokes and heart attacks in “clinically silent patients,” according to research from Dandelion Health. 

For nearly 3,400 patients with obesity, the average weight loss achieved with semaglutide (Wegovy and Ozempic) was more than twice that achieved with liraglutide (Saxenda and Victoza). 

Competition is brewing for Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, two of the world’s leading pharmaceutical weight loss companies, according to analysts. 

Patients who took semaglutide, the main ingredient of Wegovy and Ozempic, died less often from COVID-19 compared to those who took a placebo, according to a study published Aug. 30 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 

Employers and employees spent more than $400 billion on obesity care in 2023; Novo Nordisk’s CEO said weight loss drug Wegovy can reduce these costs — an inverse of critics’ expectations. 

Many cardiac drugs have notoriously low adherence rates, but GLP-1s may be overcoming that problem, according to Northwell Health cardiologist, Jeffrey Wessler, MD.