Novo Nordisk’s Victoza shows cardiovascular risk benefits in diabetes patients

Novo Nordisk has announced clinical trial data demonstrating the positive cardiovascular health profile of its diabetes therapy Victoza.

Data from the phase III LEADER trial showed that Victoza was able to significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular death, non-fatal heart attack or non-fatal stroke by 13 percent compared to placebo when added to standard of care.

The trial involved 9,340 adults with type 2 diabetes who were deemed to be at high cardiovascular disease risk. This makes Victoza the only approved GLP-1 receptor agonist to demonstrate a superior reduction of major cardiovascular events versus placebo.

These findings prove that Novo Nordisk's drug can help to improve outcomes beyond glucose reduction and weight loss by helping to avoid cardiovascular complications and death.

Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, executive vice-president and chief science officer of Novo Nordisk, said: "We are very excited by the LEADER trial results that demonstrate a significant reduction in major cardiovascular events among type 2 diabetes patients treated with Victoza, including all-cause death."

Victoza was launched in the EU in 2009 and is now commercially available in more than 85 countries. It is used to treat more than one million people with type 2 diabetes globally.