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We know that there are a lot of mixed feelings about Ozempic, alternatively known as Wegovy and semaglutide. However, a new study may make you change your mind. A long-term study with more than 3,500 participants found that the medication slowed the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). It also lowered the risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and death. For people with blood sugar concerns and CKD, the medication lowered the risk of kidney failure by 24 percent, death by 20 percent and a major heart problem by 18 percent.
The maker of the drug, Novo Nordisk, plans to file for FDA label expansion later this year so it can be prescribed to more people with CKD. This could increase the price further. It’s already an expensive drug. The study, while reviewed and published in a respected journal, was paid for by the company.
The CDC says approximately one in three people with blood sugar concerns has CKD. As CKD can lead to kidney failure and heart problems, reducing the risk is essential. High blood sugar can damage the blood vessels of the kidneys and heart. Ozempic can fight that. But Ozempic helped beyond that; kidney function declined slower, and hearts remained healthier.
“In this trial, we’re able to show benefits that highlight how transforming semaglutide can be for people with diabetes and kidney disease,” said Dr. Vlado Perkovic, a nephrologist and provost at the Univ. of New South Wales Sydney. He was the lead author of the study. He called the results “robust and real.”
“To me, what semaglutide really does is, it addresses a broad spectrum of risk,” said Dr. Katherine Tuttle of the American Society of Nephrology. “It does reduce weight, it does lower glucose, it does lower blood pressure a little bit. And then we think on top of that, it has the direct effects on the kidney. It’s really the whole package.”
Dr. Tuttle voiced her concern about the drug getting to the patients who need it most. The medication is already in high demand and sometimes in short supply. Should the price increase even more, it will be out of reach to many.
Semaglutide is the generic name for the medication. The sooner it becomes available cheaply and easily, the better.
“We would be saving kidneys, hearts and lives in this population by making this drug available to them and that’s quite extraordinary for one treatment to be able to do,” said Prof. Perkovic.
