A study published in a medical journal shows that Novo Nordisk's popular weight loss drug Wegovy helps women with common heart disease lose more weight compared to men with the same condition.
The trial included 1,145 patients and focused on a condition called heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), which causes the heart muscle to stiffen and reduces the amount of blood inhaled.
The trial data was presented on Sunday at the American Diabetes Association's scientific meeting in Orlando, Florida. The trial tested the drug's effects on obesity-related heart failure and HFpEF, including participants with and without diabetes.
The data shows that Wegovy has similar effects on improving HFpEF symptoms, physical limitations, and exercise function, regardless of gender.
This pre-specified analysis was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
"We saw benefits in both male and female patients," Novo Nordisk's Chief Medical Officer, Stephen Gough, said in an interview. He added that the trial data supports the potential of Wegovy to provide clinical improvement in heart failure patients.
Novo Nordisk's trial was not designed to evaluate the differences in treatment effects of Wegovy (chemical name semaglutide) based on biological sex.
About half of the patients participating in the trial were women. The analysis showed that these women had a higher body mass index and more severe heart failure symptoms. Compared to men, female patients were less likely to have arrhythmias or coronary artery disease.
