Results of Wegovy’s longest clinical trial on weight loss, side effects and heart protection [Video]

New analyses of the longest clinical trial yet of the weight-loss drug Wegovy are shedding light on how quickly it helps people lose weight, how long they sustain that weight loss and how safe the medicine is over four years of use.

The analyses – of a trial called Select, whose results showed last year that Wegovy significantly reduced heart risk in addition to helping with weight loss – also suggest that the drug may protect the heart in ways beyond weight loss alone, researchers said, raising new questions about how the wildly popular medicines in this drug class should be used – and covered by insurers.

“The implications are profound,” said Dr. Harlan Krumholz, a cardiologist and scientist at Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital who was not involved in the research, noting that a second study this week showed a similar finding for heart failure. “We have not encountered a drug with such a breadth …