Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) announced Friday that people with type 2 diabetes who take Victoza are effectively less prone to major adverse cardiovascular events, according to a major study that analyzed data from 9,000 people during 5 years.
People with type 2 diabetes are usually more exposed to experience major adverse cardiovascular events, said Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, executive vice president and chief science officer of Novo Nordisk, in a press release published Friday.
However, results would appear to show that taking Victoza can help diabetics control their blood sugar levels and reduce their risk of cardiovascular events. According to Mr. Mads Thomsen, findings were obtained from the largest and longer clinical trial that has been conducted by Novo Nordisk laboratories.
“LEADER is the largest and longest Novo Nordisk clinical trial to report to date, and we look forward to sharing the detailed results with the medical community and submitting the findings to the regulatory authorities.” said Mr. Mads Thomsen.
Detailed results will be presented at the 76th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in June 2016. However, researchers said that the team investigated the cardiovascular safety of Victoza over a 5-years period in more than 9,000 adults with type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is currently a major worry for U.S. physicians. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 27 million people have type 2 diabetes in the country and approximately eight million don’t even know it.
Another 86 million are pre-diabetic, which means they might be diabetic in the future if they do not change their eating habits and exercise routines. It is widely recognized that heart disease rates are almost twice as high among diabetics, says the CDC.
Novo Nordisk’s Q4 earnings: full year earnings increased 12.3%
On Friday, the global healthcare company headquartered in Denmark presented its fourth-quarter 2015’s earnings. Results would appear to show that Q4 2015’s revenues increased 2.3 percent year over year to $4.2 billion, an amount that surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate, said NASDAQ on Friday.
Drugs that obtained more benefits were modern insulins and Victoza. Moreover, Tresiba and Saxenda generated significant contributions. That being said, it is expected by Novo Nordisk that its sales will grow 5% to 9% in local currencies since it was confirmed that Victoza has a great impact in preventing adverse cardiovascular effects among diabetic people.
Source: Novo Nordisk Press Release