Health Canada approves Wegovy to reduce risk of heart attacks

Yesterday, Health Canada approved semaglutide 2.4mg (Wegovy) to reduce the risk of heart attacks in people with cardiovascular disease and overweight or obesity. This is a landmark moment in Canada, as this is the first medication ever to be approved for weight management AND for reduction in cardiovascular event risk.

So far, semaglutide 2.4mg is the only weight management medication to show a reduction in cardiovascular events, in the SELECT trial. When these trial results came out a year ago, it was a real turning point for obesity medicine, helping doubters (or health care professionals who continued to tout the ‘just eat less and move more’ approach) to see just how important treating obesity is to health, including cardiac health. Health Canada has now clearly heard this message, which is delightful news for our country. (The American FDA gave a similar approval earlier this year.)

So what does this mean for people in Canada living with elevated weight and cardiovascular disease? If you have tried talking to your health care team about weight management medication but were met with resistance in the past, renew the conversation with this information. It’s hard to argue with a Health Canada backing. As regards financial coverage for Wegovy, it’s hard to predict exactly how this new indication will affect insurance coverage- time will tell. Some private medical plans currently pay for weight management medications, though the majority don’t. I suspect and sincerely hope that insurers will start to pick up Wegovy coverage for people with elevated weight and cardiovascular disease.

The BIG question is whether provincial goverments will cover Wegovy for people with elevated weight and cardiovascular disease. All of us – people living with elevated weight and CV disease, health care providers, and all other stakeholders – need to advocate for this to happen!

Disclaimer: I was an investigator in the SELECT study, as well as other clinical trials of semaglutide. I receive honoraria as a continuing medical education speaker and consultant from the makers of semaglutide (Novo Nordisk).

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