An international study led by Brigham and Women’s Hospital, part of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, reveals that patients receiving weekly injections of the weight loss drug semaglutide experienced a lower likelihood of death from any cause, including cardiovascular diseases and infections such as COVID-19. This research, known as the SELECT Trial, was supported by Novo Nordisk and examined the impacts of semaglutide compared to placebo on mortality among over 17,000 individuals with heart conditions who were also overweight or obese from October 2018 to March 2023. The findings, which showed a 19% reduction in overall mortality and 15% and 23% decreases in deaths due to cardiovascular issues and other causes, were presented at the 2024 European Society of Cardiology Congress and published concurrently in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Benjamin M. Scirica, MD MPH, the study’s corresponding author and director of quality initiatives at the Cardiovascular Division of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, expressed surprise at the results. He noted that the trial commenced before the outbreak of COVID-19 and did not initially aim to investigate pandemic-related outcomes. However, the emergence of the pandemic highlighted significant findings, notably that semaglutide not only reduced the risk of cardiovascular deaths but also non-cardiovascular ones, notably those related to COVID-19. This unexpected benefit suggests that this class of drugs might have broader applications than previously thought.
The most frequent non-cardiovascular cause of death among the study participants was infection, with those on semaglutide showing a lower rate of severe complications or fatalities from COVID-19 despite similar infection rates compared to those on placebo. The specific reasons why semaglutide provides these benefits remain unclear, whether they are related to weight loss or other factors. These preliminary observations from a large-scale, multinational study indicate a need for further research to confirm these findings and explore the underlying mechanisms. Upcoming studies will continue to assess how this drug and others in its class can benefit patients beyond their known effects.
More information: Benjamin M. Scirica et al, The Effect of Semaglutide on Mortality and COVID-19–Related Deaths: An Analysis From the SELECT Trial, Journal of the American College of Cardiology. DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2024.08.007
Journal information: Journal of the American College of Cardiology Provided by Brigham and Women’s Hospital
