Semaglutide Reduces Stroke, Mortality in Patients With Diabetes

HealthDay News — Semaglutide is beneficial for patients with type 2 diabetes at high risk of cardiovascular events, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The research was published to coincide with the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, held from September 12-16 in Munich.

Steven P. Marso, MD, from Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo., and colleagues randomized 3297 patients with type 2 diabetes to receive once-weekly semaglutide or placebo for 104 weeks. At baseline, 83% of the patients had established cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, or both.

The researchers found that the primary outcome (composite of first occurrence of cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and non-fatal stroke) occurred in 6.6% of patients in the semaglutide group and in 8.9% of the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.74; 95% confidence interval, 0.58 to 0.95; P <.001 for noninferiority). Non-fatal myocardial infarction occurred in 2.9 and 3.9% of those receiving semaglutide and placebo, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.74; 95% confidence interval, 0.51 to 1.08), while nonfatal stroke occurred in 1.6 and 2.7%, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% confidence interval, 0.38 to 0.99). The groups had similar rates of death from cardiovascular causes.

“The rate of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke was significantly lower among patients receiving semaglutide than among those receiving placebo, an outcome that confirmed the noninferiority of semaglutide,” the authors write.

Disclosures: Several authors disclosed financial ties to Novo Nordisk, which manufactures semaglutide and funded the study.

Reference

Marso S, Bain S, Consoli A et al. Semaglutide and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes. N Engl J Med. 2016 Sept 16; doi:10.1056/nejmoa1607141.