A new study has demonstrated that a widely-used weight loss medication significantly reduces the risk of death from COVID-19.
The findings, published on Friday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, indicate that Wegovy, a prominent obesity drug, lowered the likelihood of death from COVID-19 among users during the pandemic. The study highlights the effectiveness of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy, which has become a favored choice for weight loss alongside Ozempic, another drug that is also prescribed for Type 2 diabetes.
Despite the fact that participants in the clinical trial still contracted COVID-19, those on Wegovy experienced a 33 percent reduction in mortality risk compared to those receiving a placebo.
The research, sponsored by Wegovy’s manufacturer, Novo Nordisk, involved 17,694 participants with pre-existing heart conditions. The pandemic’s onset occurred during the trial, providing a unique opportunity to assess the impact of COVID-19 on individuals with high risk of severe outcomes and to evaluate whether semaglutide influenced this risk.
Among the participants, 4,258 tested positive for COVID-19. The group was evenly divided between those taking Wegovy and those receiving a placebo. Of the 184 participants who succumbed to the virus, 106 were in the placebo group, while 78 were taking Wegovy.
Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency room physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, provided an editorial in conjunction with the study. He commented, “Pandemics reveal much about societies and expose their weaknesses. The lessons should motivate action.” Faust added, “The fact that semaglutide and similar drugs could have potentially improved outcomes during a pandemic caused by a respiratory virus is a remarkable insight.”
In an interview with The New York Times, Faust described the data as “stunning.”
This study follows another recent investigation revealing that Tirzepatide, an active ingredient in weight loss medications Zepbound and Mounjaro, also reduces the severity of sleep apnea. Additionally, it comes amid increasing warnings from the World Health Organization and the Food and Drug Administration regarding counterfeit versions of weight loss drugs.
