New findings have shown Victoza (liraglutide) reduces the risk of major cardiovascular (CV) events in people with type 2 diabetes who were at high CV risk.
The type 2 diabetes drug, used to lower blood glucose levels and enable weight loss, was also beneficial in treating people irrespective of whether they had previously had a heart attack and/or stroke.
The results are the latest from the landmark LEADER trial, which launched in 2010. More than 9,000 people with type 2 diabetes from 32 countries were recruited, all of whom were at a high risk of CV events. They were then randomised to treatment either with Victoza or placebo, in addition to standard care. The effects of the trial were investigated for between 3.5-5 years.
Victoza reduced the risk of major CV events (non-fatal heart attack, non-fatal stroke and CV death) by 16 per cent among those who had previously suffered a heart attack or stroke before the trial began.
Additionally, an 11 per cent reduced risk of CV events was observed in Victoza patients who had not previously experienced a CV event.
Professor Neil Poulter, part of the LEADER Trial Steering Committee and Investigators, said: “This new analysis expands our understanding of the benefits of Victoza in reducing cardiovascular risk in people with type 2 diabetes.
“These encouraging results are consistent with the cardiovascular benefits of Victoza observed in LEADER in both people with a history of having a heart attack and/or stroke as well as people at high risk without prior history of these types of cardiovascular events.”
Victoza is a GLP-1 analogue drug manufactured by Novo Nordisk which is currently approved in the UK for treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes, that are not meeting target blood glucose control, in combination with diet and exercise.

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