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# Wegovy OK’d for Reducing Cardiovascular Death
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/wegovy-okd-for-reducing-cardiovascular-death/
- Published: 2024-03-08T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T14:24:54.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5156513

FDA has approved a new indication for Novo Nordisk’s weight loss drug Wegovy (semaglutide) injection — reducing the risk of cardiovascular death, heart attack and stroke in adults with cardiovascular disease and being either obese or overweight.

“Wegovy is now the first weight loss medication to also be approved to help prevent life-threatening cardiovascular events in adults with cardiovascular disease and either obesity or overweight,” CDER Division of Diabetes, Lipid Disorders, and Obesity director **John Sharretts** is quoted in a [release](https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-treatment-reduce-risk-serious-heart-problems-specifically-adults-obesity-or?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) as saying. “This patient population has a higher risk of cardiovascular death, heart attack and stroke. Providing a treatment option that is proven to lower this cardiovascular risk is a major advance for public health.” 

Approval for the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist was based on data from a multi-national, multi-center, placebo-controlled double-blind trial that randomly assigned over 17,600 participants to receive either Wegovy or placebo. “Wegovy significantly reduced the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (cardiovascular death, heart attack and stroke), which occurred in 6.5% of participants who received Wegovy compared to 8% of participants who received placebo,” the agency says.