Ozempic and Wegovy can supercharge weight loss and even defy ageing – but can they save the NHS?

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

It has been eight years since weight-loss drug Ozempic hit the market, while Wegovy surfaced in 2021. Since then many reports have been written about the wider health benefits of the so called wonder drugs.

Ozempic and Wegovy, which contain a medication called semaglutide, are manufactured by Novo Nordisk. Both drugs can be used by those with type 2 diabetes to help aid weight loss and manage blood sugar levels. However, Wegovy has since been approved in the UK to aid weight loss in those without diabetes. Since their launch, the pharma giant has seen a boom in profits, and it isn’t surprising to see why.

Research published this week claimed the drug, could slow down ageing and has “far-reaching benefits” beyond what was originally imagined.

The studies found those who took the drug died at a lower rate from all causes including cardiovascular diseases and Covid-19. The study covered 17,604 people who were overweight or obese and had an established cardiovascular disease.

Participants were given semaglutide or a placebo and were tracked for more than three years. Throughout the trial, a total of 833 participants died with 58 per cent of the deaths related to cardiovascular causes and 42 per cent to others.

Studies from the same trial published earlier this year also suggested the jabs could reduce the risk of heart attacks or strokes by a fifth.

Researchers from UCLH also found that of the 17,604 patients, 62 per cent had lost more than 5 per cent of their body fat 20 weeks after using the drug.

Another piece of research from the same trial suggested weight loss using semaglutide could be sustained for up to four years in adults who are overweight, or obese.

Wegovy was approved for use on the NHS in 2023. Patients who are obese can be prescribed the drugs alongside a weight-loss management programme. To access the drugs a patient needs to have a BMI of 30 or more or 27.5 for those from a Black, Asian, or ethnic minority background, and have a weight-related health condition such as high blood pressure, or cardiovascular disease.

There are some drawbacks to the drugs of course which have been reported such as experiencing gastrointestinal disorders such as nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting and constipation. However, if there are longer-term impacts these are yet to surface in published research.

The wide-ranging benefits of Ozempic or Wegovy for those dealing with obesity are obviously linked to the overall benefits of weight loss. It is not surprising to consider that losing weight and maintaining this could drastically improve your health.

Could this have broad benefits for the NHS in terms of reducing pressure in years to come? Obesity is a huge public health issue, not just in the UK. Being obese can leave people at increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers.

Rates of obesity in both children and adults across the UK are also rising, with the latest data showing in 2022 to 2023, 64 per cent of adults were estimated to be overweight or living with obesity – up from 63 per cent and 61 per cent in years prior.

According to think tank The King’s Fund in 2019-20, more than one million hospital admissions in England were linked to obesity.

The “costs” of obesity, in terms of treating associated health risks, amount to more than £6n a year for the NHS. This is forecast to rise to £9.7bn per year by 2050.

We’re yet to see the data on the public health impacts of weight-loss drugs – they haven’t been around long enough yet on the NHS to study this.

However, it seems logical that rolling out these weight-loss drugs would have some positive knock-on for health services in the UK. The scale of this would depend how widely the drugs are used and also how well people are supported to maintain their weight loss. Weight-loss programmes provided by the NHS, as with many services, are struggling with demand and capacity.

There is also a question over how long people have to take the drug and for how long they are able to maintain their weight loss afterwards as the long-term picture isn’t yet clear.

Any benefit of the treatments could also be tempered by a lack of preventative measures. These drugs treat the symptoms rather than preventing the obesity crisis, which requires far wider public health reforms such as those hinted at by the new health secretary, Wes Streeting.