Source: AFP
The US Food and Drug Administration has given the go-ahead for a popular anti-obesity drug to be used to prevent serious heart disease for the first time, in a move that may expand insurance coverage.
Wegovy, made by Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, was approved “to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death, heart attack, and stroke in adults with cardiovascular disease and either obesity or overweight,” the FDA said in a statement.
The FDA’s decision could be a game-changer for the roughly 70 percent of American adults who say they are either obese or overweight, potentially expanding the pool of people eligible to have their insurance cover these expensive but effective drugs.
“This patient population has a higher risk of cardiovascular death, heart attack, and stroke,” said the director of the FDA’s Division of Diabetes, Lipid Disorders, and Obesity.
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“Providing a treatment option that is proven to reduce this cardiovascular risk is an important advance for public health,” he added.
The recent surge in popularity of anti-obesity drugs, including Wegovy and Ozempic, which mimic a gut hormone to suppress appetite, has boosted profits for the companies that make them.
In fact, Novo Nordisk, which makes both Wegovy and Ozempic, has been so profitable that it has helped sustain Denmark’s economy, according to Danske Bank.
The pharmaceutical giant’s success “is pushing overall activity levels higher while much of the rest of industry and homebuilding have contracted,” Heidi Schauman, the bank’s global head of research, wrote in a note earlier this week.
Novo Nordisk chief development officer Martin Holst Lang welcomed the FDA’s announcement, calling it “an important milestone for people living with obesity and cardiovascular disease.”
Wegovy “has the potential to extend lives by addressing some of the leading preventable causes of death, reducing the risks of cardiovascular events,” he said in a statement.
Source: AFP