Weight loss drugs cut Covid-19 deaths, study finds

People taking the key component of blockbuster weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy were less likely to die of Covid-19 or suffer adverse effects from the virus, researchers found in a new study.

People who were already being treated with a 2.4 mg dose of the drug semaglutide — the active ingredient in pharma titan Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy — could still contract Covid-19 but had a 33% lower chance of dying from the sickness, according to a crop of studies published by the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) on Friday.

The papers also indicate that semaglutide may have a wide range of health benefits beyond the previously identified reduction in risk of serious heart events such as heart attacks and strokes. In an interview published by JACC, paper co-author Benjamin Scirica said that patients who received semaglutide in his own study showed a 29% reduction in deaths from causes not linked to heart events, adding that weight did not appear to be a “major mediator” in the findings.

The large study, which preceded the pandemic and ran through it, was carried out on over 17,600 people who were overweight or obese and who suffered from heart illnesses, but not diabetes.

Other studies published by JACC on Friday showed semaglutide improved symptoms linked to heart failure, inflammation and a host of other functions, as well as reducing deaths among patients who suffer chronic kidney disease.

The findings will give a further boost to Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk, whose value has been turbocharged by the popularity of semaglutide-based treatments. The pharmaceutical giant has risen up the ranks to become Europe’s most valuable company, amid intense competition globally in the weight loss sphere with the likes of the U.S.’s Eli Lilly and a host of other challengers.

The discovery of new benefits from semaglutide could open up the drug for further uses.

Discussing the Friday papers, Yale University School of Medicine Professor and JACC editor Harlan Krumholz said in a JACC interview, “I begin to think about the weight loss almost as a side effect, I mean these [drugs] are really promoting health.”

He added, “I was thinking mostly about cardiometabolic health… but there may be many mechanisms by which [semaglutide] is making us healthier, and in some ways this is suggesting it’s helping us to resist the adverse consequences of the pandemic.”

Krumholz nevertheless noted that further research into the impacts of semaglutide was required.

Not all side effects from weight loss drugs have been positive, with one study carried out by Harvard Medical School this year finding that such medication might be associated with an increased risk of a rare eye disease.