PHILADELPHIA, Nov 11 – Novo Nordisk presented new data on Saturday at a medical meeting, showing that its popular obesity treatment, Wegovy, offers heart protective benefits beyond just weight loss. The early data from the Danish drug company’s Select trial, released in August, revealed that Wegovy not only helped patients lose an average of 15% of their weight but also reduced the risk of heart attack, stroke, or death from heart disease by 20%.

The full results from the study, presented at the American Heart Association annual scientific meeting in Philadelphia, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest that Wegovy has other positive effects beyond weight loss. The study involved overweight and obese patients with preexisting heart disease who were not diabetic. It found that Wegovy reduced the risk of non-fatal heart attack by 28%, non-fatal stroke by 7%, and heart-related death by 15% compared to a placebo.

According to the researchers, the cardiovascular benefits of Wegovy began to appear almost immediately after starting treatment, even before patients started losing weight, suggesting that the heart protection was not solely due to weight loss. The study also showed that patients on Wegovy experienced reductions in inflammation, blood pressure, and blood sugar control, all of which can impact heart health.

Despite almost 1,500 patients discontinuing Wegovy due to adverse side effects, such as gastrointestinal disorders, the drug was found to be safe and well-tolerated in line with previous trials of semaglutide. Novo Nordisk expects the drug’s label to be updated to include its heart benefits in the U.S. and EU in the coming year.

In a statement, Novo Nordisk’s head of development, Martin Lange, said, “The cardiovascular benefit (of Wegovy) is a combination of many factors, but I would call out glycemic (blood sugar) control, weight loss, and inflammation.” This new data could expand the use of such drugs to millions of additional patients with coronary artery disease, according to doctors Amit Khera and Tiffany Powell-Wiley in an accompanying NEJM editorial.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted Novo Nordisk’s label update application under priority review, with a decision expected within six months. Meanwhile, UK and U.S. regulators have already approved rival drug maker Eli Lilly’s weight-loss treatment.