Oral Semaglutide for Type 2 Diabetic Patients at High Cardiovascular Risk

In a previous randomized trial, the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogue semaglutide (Ozempic), given subcutaneously once weekly, was associated with fewer adverse cardiovascular (CV) events in type 2 diabetic patients, most of whom had established CV disease (NEJM JW Cardiol Nov 2016 and N Engl J Med 2016; 375:1834). Now, industry-sponsored researchers have examined CV outcomes with an oral version of semaglutide (not yet FDA-approved) in about 3200 patients with longstanding type 2 diabetes and established CV disease, chronic kidney disease, or multiple CV risk factors. Patients were permitted to use other glucose-lowering drugs; mean glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA_1c) at baseline was 8.2%.

Patients were randomized to oral semaglutide or …