Novo Nordisk reports weight-loss drug cut the combined risk of heart attack, stroke, and death by 57% compared with Mounjaro.
Danish pharma giant Novo Nordisk has unveiled new real-world data suggesting that its weight-loss drug Wegovy significantly reduces the risk of serious cardiovascular events in people with obesity and established heart disease. Results from the STEER study, presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Madrid, showed that semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy, cut the combined risk of heart attack, stroke, and death by 57 percent compared with tirzepatide (sold by Lilly as Mounjaro) in patients who remained consistently on therapy.
Obesity is a major driver of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, with two-thirds of obesity-related deaths linked to heart disease. While overall cardiovascular mortality has declined in recent decades, obesity-related cardiovascular deaths have been climbing. With cardiovascular disease claiming nearly 21 million lives globally each year, the implications of obesity drugs on heart outcomes have become a key focus for clinicians, researchers, and payers.
The new analysis included 10,625 patients in each treatment arm, drawn from the US-based Komodo Research database, and focused on adults aged 45 and older with overweight or obesity and cardiovascular disease but no history of diabetes. A sensitivity analysis of patients without gaps longer than 30 days in their treatment found 15 events, or 0.1 percent, among those taking Wegovy, compared with 39 events, or 0.4 percent, in the tirzepatide group.
When the analysis was expanded to include all patients, regardless of interruptions in therapy, Wegovy was associated with a 29 percent lower risk of heart attack, stroke, or death from any cause compared with tirzepatide. Across an average follow-up of about eight months, 56 events, or 0.5 percent, occurred in the Wegovy group compared with 83 events, or 0.8 percent, among those receiving tirzepatide.
The findings build on earlier evidence, particularly from the large randomized SELECT trial, that Wegovy confers clear cardiovascular benefits beyond weight loss in people with obesity and established heart disease. Novo Nordisk emphasized that the results reinforce the view that semaglutide’s effect on cardiovascular outcomes is molecule-specific, rather than a shared feature across GLP-1 receptor agonists or newer GIP/GLP-1 dual agonists such as tirzepatide.
“In the STEER study, patients using Wegovy had greater cardiovascular improvements compared to tirzepatide, indicating that the same CV benefit cannot be generalized across other molecules in the GLP-1 or GIP/GLP-1 classes and may come specifically from the semaglutide molecule,” said Novo Nordisk SVP Anna Windle. “Real-world studies, like STEER, provide us with important insights into how treatments may serve patients outside of controlled clinical trials as we continue to learn more about the benefits of Wegovy beyond weight management.”
Beyond cardiovascular protection, a growing body of research suggests semaglutide and other GLP-1 receptor agonists may influence broader aspects of health, including biological aging, inflammation, liver function, cognition, and even behaviors such as alcohol consumption. Novo Nordisk and other companies are investing heavily in exploring these wider applications, but cardiovascular benefit remains the most validated outcome to date.
