European Chemical Industry News & Insights

Novo Nordisk: Wegovy® Reduces Heart Attack, Stroke, Death Risk by 57% vs. Tirzepatide

At a glance
  • Wegovy® (semaglutide) 2.4 mg reduces heart attack, stroke, or death risk by 57% compared to tirzepatide in obese patients with CVD.
  • The study recorded 15 cardiovascular events with Wegovy® and 39 with tirzepatide over an average follow-up of 3.8 and 4.3 months, respectively.
  • Wegovy® showed a 29% risk reduction in heart events compared to tirzepatide in all treated people, regardless of treatment gaps.
  • The findings suggest semaglutide's cardiovascular benefits are specific and not general to GLP-1 or GIP/GLP-1 classes.

Study Overview

Novo Nordisk's STEER real-world study, presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2025, compared the effects of Wegovy® (semaglutide) 2.4 mg and tirzepatide on cardiovascular events in people with obesity and cardiovascular disease (CVD) without diabetes.

Key Findings

Wegovy® demonstrated a 57% greater reduction in the risk of heart attack, stroke, or death from any cause compared to tirzepatide in patients with obesity and CVD, with no treatment gaps exceeding 30 days. The study recorded 15 cardiovascular events with Wegovy® and 39 with tirzepatide, over an average follow-up of 3.8 months for Wegovy® and 4.3 months for tirzepatide.

Additional Insights

In all treated individuals, regardless of treatment gaps, Wegovy® showed a 29% risk reduction for heart attack, stroke, and death from any cause compared to tirzepatide. There were 56 cardiovascular events recorded with Wegovy® and 83 with tirzepatide, over an average follow-up of 8.3 months for Wegovy® and 8.6 months for tirzepatide.

Conclusion

The study suggests that the cardiovascular benefits observed with Wegovy® are specific to the semaglutide molecule and cannot be generalized to the broader GLP-1 or GIP/GLP-1-receptor agonist classes.