News of Wegovy's Cardiac Benefits Could Make Coverage More Compelling

Demand for Novo Nordisk A/S’s Wegovy (semaglutide) may spike even higher following the Danish pharma giant’s Aug. 8 announcement that the diabetes drug, recently approved by the FDA for use as a weight loss treatment, “reduces the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events by 20%” in patients with obesity. Clinicians and pharmacists say the drug’s broad appeal became even greater with the news but suggest that insurers and plan sponsors are likely to continue to erect access barriers to Wegovy given its high cost and clinical limitations.

Novo said a double-blinded trial “compared subcutaneous once-weekly semaglutide 2.4 mg with placebo as an adjunct to standard of care for prevention of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) over a period of up to five years,” and “achieved its primary objective by demonstrating a statistically significant and superior reduction in MACE of 20% for people treated with semaglutide 2.4 mg compared to placebo.”