On 23 July 2024, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved a new indication for semaglutide (Wegovy®) to reduce the risk of serious heart problems or strokes in overweight and obese adults. Already approved for obesity and weight management, semaglutide is now the first weight loss drug prescribed to prevent cardiovascular events in people with established cardiovascular disease and a BMI of 27 kg/m² or higher.
This approval is based on the SELECT cardiovascular outcomes trial that semaglutide significantly lowers the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) by 20% compared to placebo, as demonstrated in a trial involving over 17,600 participants.
Wegovy® was recently shown in a University of Oxford study, supported by the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre and the Medical Research Council, to lower dementia risk by 48% compared to MSD’s Januvia® (sitagliptin).