Bagsværd, Denmark, 6 May 2025
– Novo Nordisk today announced that new data spanning the company’s industry-leading portfolio across metabolic and cardiovascular health will be presented at the upcoming 32
nd
European Congress on Obesity (ECO), 11–14 May 2025. The data will further extend the wide-ranging evidence base for semaglutide through real-world evidence studies and additional analysis of the landmark cardiovascular outcomes trial, SELECT, as well as part 1 of the phase 3 ESSENCE trial in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). Data will also be presented on the wider societal impacts of treating and preventing obesity, alongside analysis of the burden of obesity in adolescents.
“Obesity is one of the greatest healthcare challenges we face globally, impacting the lives of hundreds of millions of people. Without effective interventions, the global burden of obesity and its complications will continue to rise,” said Stephen Gough, senior vice president and head of Chief Medical Office at Novo Nordisk. “Our broad and robust semaglutide data presented at ECO, including its impact on weight loss in a real-world setting and its early clinical effect on cardiovascular events and death, significantly adds to the growing body of evidence showing the value of semaglutide to individuals, healthcare systems and society.”
“We are dedicated to leading the way in defeating obesity and are pleased to return to ECO to present new, strong semaglutide data,” said Ludovic Helfgott, executive vice president of Product & Portfolio Strategy at Novo Nordisk. “Our investment into the understanding and treatment of obesity continues to reveal new insights, with semaglutide showing its potential to improve health in obesity, heart disease and liver disease. Our data shows that semaglutide provides early protection against heart disease even before significant weight loss occurs and that for people in treatment, our digital support solutions have the potential to enhance weight loss further.”
Novo Nordisk abstracts to be presented, some of these data for semaglutide are investigational:
Obesity is a chronic, multi-factorial disease influenced by biological, psychological, and environmental factors that often puts people on the pathway to other serious chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease (CVD) and metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, and MASH.
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A significant proportion of the cardiovascular risk associated with these diseases is attributable to shared metabolic risk factors.
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CVD accounts for around 70% of deaths in people living with obesity and is the leading cause of death in people with type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease and MASH.
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Obesity is also associated with an increased demand on healthcare services, and a significant cost burden to society.
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About semaglutide
Semaglutide is a glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA), which mimics the effects of the naturally occurring hormone GLP-1. Semaglutide has been tested in several robust clinical development programmes and outcome studies in cardiometabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, liver disease and other related cardiometabolic diseases. It has a cumulative exposure of over 33 million patient-years since 2018.
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Semaglutide is marketed under the brand names Wegovy
®
(once-weekly semaglutide 2.4 mg injection), Ozempic
®
(once-weekly semaglutide 1.0 mg injection), and Rybelsus
®
(once-daily oral semaglutide 14 mg).
About Wegovy
®
In the EU, Wegovy
®
is indicated as an adjunct to a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity for chronic weight management in adults with an initial BMI of 30 kg/m
2
or greater (obesity), adults with an initial BMI of 27 kg/m
2
or greater (overweight) in the presence of at least one weight-related comorbid condition and paediatric patients aged 12 years and older with an initial BMI at the 95th percentile or greater for age and gender (obesity) and body weight above 60 kg.
In the US, Wegovy
®
is indicated in combination with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to reduce the risk of MACE in adults with established cardiovascular disease and either obesity or overweight, as well as to reduce excess body weight and maintain weight reduction long term in adults and paediatric patients aged 12 years and older with obesity and in adults with overweight in the presence of at least one weight-related comorbid condition.
About Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk is a leading global healthcare company founded in 1923 and headquartered in Denmark. Our purpose is to drive change to defeat serious chronic diseases built upon our heritage in diabetes. We do so by pioneering scientific breakthroughs, expanding access to our medicines, and working to prevent and ultimately cure disease. Novo Nordisk employs about 76,300 people in 80 countries and markets its products in around 170 countries. For more information, visit
novonordisk.com
,
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,
Instagram
,
X
,
LinkedIn
and
YouTube
.
Contacts for further information
References
1
National Institutes of Health. Clinical Guidelines On The Identification, Evaluation, And Treatment Of Overweight And Obesity In Adults. NHLBI. Available at: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/ob_gdlns.pdf. Last accessed: November 2024.
2
Marassi M, Fadini GP. The cardio-renal-metabolic connection: a review of the evidence. Cardiovasc Diabetol. 2023 Jul 31;22(1):195. doi: 10.1186/s12933-023-01937-x. PMID: 37525273; PMCID: PMC10391899.
3
Shroff H, VanWagner LB. Cardiovascular Disease in Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis: Screening and Management. Curr Hepatol Rep. 2020;19(3):315-326. doi:10.1007/s11901-020-00530-0.
4
Jankowski J, Floege J, Fliser D, Böhm M, Marx N: Cardiovascular disease in chronic kidney disease: pathophysiological insights and therapeutic options. Circulation. 2021, 143:1157-72.
5
Khafagy R, Dash S. Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease: The Emerging Role of Inflammation. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2021;8:768119. Published 2021 Oct 25. doi:10.3389/fcvm.2021.768119.
6
Ma, CX., Ma, XN., Guan, CH. et al. Cardiovascular disease in type 2 diabetes mellitus: progress toward personalized management. Cardiovasc Diabetol 21, 74 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12933-022-01516-6
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Okunogbe et al. Economic impacts of overweight and obesity: current and future estimates for eight countries BMJ Glob Health 2021;6(10):e006351.
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Novo Nordisk data on file.