Originally intended to treat diabetes, GLP-1 receptor agonists are proving to have many other benefits.
In March, the FDA gave approval for the makers of Wegovy to add language about the medication’s cardiovascular benefits to the medication’s packaging.
A new study released Wednesday by Dandelion Health, using validated AI, has found that GLP-1 medications may be effective as a primary prevention method for cardiovascular disease.
“Dandelion’s study required less than 1% of the time and cost of the clinical trial and was produced in just six weeks using its GLP-1 data library, including a far broader population than possible in clinical trials,” reads a press release. “For example, Novo Nordisk’s SELECT trial, which demonstrated how semaglutide can reduce major adverse cardiovascular events … was narrowly focused on obese, non-diabetic adult patients with preexisting severe [cardiovascular disease]. Dandelion’s study considered ‘clinically silent’ patients not included in this trial — i.e., those without a past adverse cardiovascular disease event or evidence of preexisting severe cardiovascular disease.”
AI is making it possible for scientists to do more for less and in less time.
“The combined power of real-world data and AI has the potential to reshape how life sciences conduct clinical trials and research,” said Shivaani Prakash, head of data at Dandelion Health. “By combining diverse, multimodal data with validated AI, life sciences companies and researchers can now study treatment effects on a far larger, more representative population — and do so at a fraction of the cost and time.”
CNN reports on the findings of the new study. Here’s the start of the story:
Certain blockbuster weight-loss drugs have been found to protect the heart in significant ways, and new research suggests that the cardiovascular benefits could extend to an even broader set of patients than clinical trial data has shown – helping prevent tens of thousands of heart attacks and strokes each year in the United States.
Clinical trial data from drugmaker Novo Nordisk showed that people using Wegovy had a 20% lower risk of a cardiac event than those who got a placebo. In March, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a change that added cardiovascular benefits to Wegovy’s label, making it the first weight-loss drug to be cleared to reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke or heart-related death in people at higher risk of these conditions.
Wegovy is part of a class of drugs called GLP-1 receptor agonists, and its active ingredient, semaglutide, is also approved to treat type 2 diabetes as Ozempic.
Novo Nordisk’s trial was limited to people living with obesity who had a previous heart attack or stroke, or symptoms of peripheral artery disease such as clogged arteries in the arms or legs.