The Food and Drug Administration approved the weight loss drug Wegovy to treat an increasingly prevalent liver disease on Friday.
Roughly 15 million people — six percent of adults in the United States — have metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, known as MASH. Rates of the disease are rising.
The condition occurs when fat builds up in the liver, which can trigger scarring, cell damage and inflammation. MASH can lead to liver cancer and even death; it is also one of the most common reasons Americans seek liver transplants.
Wegovy, which is a weekly injection, is now approved for adults with MASH and moderate-to-advanced levels of fibrosis, or excessive scar tissue in the liver. The drug is not intended for people with cirrhosis, a condition marked by severe liver scarring and damage. Novo Nordisk, the company that makes Wegovy and its sister drug, Ozempic, asked regulators to green-light the new approval after submitting data from a highly anticipated clinical trial. In the study, around 63 percent of people who took the drug saw fat and inflammation clear up in their livers, without worsening liver scarring, compared to about 34 percent of participants on a placebo.
“It’s definitely exciting, and helping move beyond the stigma that we’re just cosmetically treating weight,” said Dr. Andrew Kraftson, a clinical associate professor in the division of metabolism, endocrinology and diabetes at Michigan Medicine. “There are these metabolic benefits that we’re seeing with these medicines.”
Scientists don’t entirely understand how the drug helps treat MASH. It may, in part, be as simple as weight loss: MASH is closely linked with obesity, and Wegovy lowers body weight. But researchers think the drug may have other beneficial effects, like potentially reducing inflammation in the liver.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post A Common Weight Loss Drug Can Treat Severe Liver Disease, F.D.A. Says appeared first on New York Times.
