India Pharma Outlook Team | Wednesday, 03 September 2025
At the ESC Congress 2025 that took place in Madrid, Novo Nordisk presented findings from the STEER study, which indicated that Wegovy (semaglutide 2.4 mg) provides greater protection to cardiovascular risk than tirzepatide for people living with overweight or obesity with heart disease but who did not have diabetes.
The study found that patients who received Wegovy without treatment breaks longer than 30 days, had a 57% lower risk of heart attack, stroke, or death compared to tirzepatide. In the Wegovy group, there were only 15 events (0.1%), vs 39 (0.4%) events in the tirzepatide group. The average follow up time was 3.8 months for Wegovy and 4.3 months for tirzipatide.
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Overall, when looking at all patients, even those that had gaps, Wegovy reduced the risk of heart attack by 29% compared to tirzepatide, over about 8.3 months and 8.6 months respectively.
“This data confirms that semaglutide stands apart as the only available GLP-1-based medication with proven cardiovascular benefits for people living with obesity and cardiovascular disease, without diabetes,” said Ludovic Helfgott, executive vice president at Novo Nordisk.
The new evidence supports previous studies, such as the large SELECT trial, which showed that Wegovy reduced heart risks by 20%, and the real-world SCORE study, which produced similar findings.
With 21 million people dying each year from heart disease as well as rising deaths attributed to obesity, the STEER study solidifies Wegovy's role as an important treatment option to reduce heart risks in people with obesity.
