Wegovy Outperforms Tirzepatide in Reducing Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events
A real-world study found that semaglutide significantly reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events compared to tirzepatide.
Positive results have been announced from a real-world study that compared semaglutide (Wegovy) to tirzepatide in lowering the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in adults with overweight or obesity and established cardiovascular disease with no history of diabetes, Novo Nordisk announced in a release.1
Wegovy Outperforms Tirzepatide in Reducing Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events / Cynthia - stock.adobe.com
Results from the STEER study showed that treatment with semaglutide 2.4 mg resulted in a significantly greater risk reduction for heart attack, stroke, cardiovascular-related death or death from any cause compared to tirzepatide. Novo Nordisk said in the release the results support growing evidence that the cardiovascular benefits with semaglutide are specific to the molecule and can’t be generalized to the entire glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) or dual GIP/GLP-1 class of medications.
"In the STEER study, patients using Wegovy had greater cardiovascular improvements compared to tirzepatide, indicating that the same cardiovascular benefit cannot be generalized across other molecules in the GLP-1 or GIP/GLP-1 classes and may come specifically from the semaglutide molecule," Anna Windle, senior vice president of clinical development and medical and regulatory affairs at Novo Nordisk, said in a release.1
STEER was a retrospective, observational real-world study that evaluated semaglutide versus tirzepatide in lowering the risk of MACE in adult patients with overweight or obesity and established cardiovascular disease with no history of diabetes. Data for the study was gathered from the US Komodo Research database, a database which gathers patient information from sources such as Medicare, Medicaid and commercial insurance, from January 2016 to January 2025.
The study cohort included 10625 patients 45 years of age or older who started treatment with semaglutide or tirzepatide on or after May 2022 in each treatment group. The primary outcome was a revised 5-point MACE, which included heart attack, stroke, hospitalization for heart failure, coronary revascularization, and death from any cause, and a revised 3-point MACE, which included heart attack, stroke and death from any cause.
The study found that semaglutide resulted in a 57% risk reduction for heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular-related death or death from any cause compared to tirzepatide over 30 days with no treatment gap. There were 15 cardiovascular events in the semaglutide group, compared to 39 in the tirzepatide group. Semaglutide also showed 29% risk reduction for heart attack, stroke and death from any cause compared to tirzepatide. There were 56 cardiovascular events in the semaglutide group and 83 in the tirzepatide group.
“Real-world studies, like STEER, provide us with important insights into how treatments may serve patients outside of controlled clinical trials as we continue to learn more about the benefits of Wegovy® beyond weight management,” Windle said in a release.1
READ MORE: Cardiology Resource Center
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References
1. Novo Nordisk's Wegovy® cuts risk of heart attack, stroke or death by 57% compared to tirzepatide in real-world study of people with obesity and cardiovascular disease. News Release. Novo Nordisk. August 31, 2025. Accessed September 2, 2025. https://www.novonordisk.com/content/nncorp/global/en/news-and-media/news-and-ir-materials/news-details.html?id=916422
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