Weight-loss drugs could reduce COVID-related deaths: Study

Patients taking the weight-loss drug semaglutide were less likely to die from COVID-19, according to a recent study. 

The patients who contracted COVID-19 while using a weekly 2.4 mg dose of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic, had a 34% lower risk of dying from COVID-19, according to Dr. Benjamin M. Scirica, one of the authors of the study published by the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC). 

About 17,604 patients were studied during the over three-year trial that had pre-existing cardiovascular disease and were overweight or obese but did not have diabetes. 

This isn't the first time researchers have discovered other benefits of this drug, which has surged in popularity in recent years because of its weight-loss effects. 

Packets of Wegovy at the Novo Nordisk A/S production facilities in Hillerod, Denmark, on June 12, 2023. (Carsten Snejbjerg/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

For instance, Wegovy was approved for use as a heart disease prevention medication earlier this year after a study showed that the drug reduced the risk of serious heart problems by 20%. 

Morgan Stanley estimated that the global market for obesity drugs could increase by more than 15-fold, reaching between $105 billion and $144 billion in 2030, "as their use expands beyond weight loss to treat a range of diseases."

In 2023, sales of branded obesity drugs notched $6 billion. Mark Purcell, head of Morgan Stanley's European pharmaceuticals team, said leading drugmakers are expected to meet the opportunity to treat a wider range of illnesses.

Morgan Stanley estimated that 9% of the population will be on these drugs by 2035, which is five times the number of people today.