European heart journal supplements : journal of the European Society of CardiologyApr 18, 2025

Comparing different ways of giving semaglutide for similar effectiveness

GLP-1 Therapies Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Jan 20, 2026

Abstract

Semaglutide is associated with significant improvements in cardiovascular outcomes among patients at high risk.

Initial formulations of semaglutide showed good tolerability and efficacy in managing blood sugar and reducing weight.
Randomized clinical trials indicated a significant reduction in cardiovascular events for individuals with existing cardiovascular disease or high risk.
Semaglutide has demonstrated effectiveness in slowing nephropathy progression in diabetic patients and those with chronic kidney failure.
The benefits of semaglutide may be linked to weight loss, improved blood sugar control, and properties that reduce inflammation and blood clotting.
An oral formulation of semaglutide has been introduced, maintaining the efficacy of the previously established subcutaneous version.

Simplified

Semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, is a well-established agent in managing patients with high cardiovascular risk. Initially, a formulation was introduced for weekly subcutaneous administration that demonstrated good tolerability and excellent efficacy in controlling glycaemia in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and in reducing body weight in obese and/or overweight subjects, even non-diabetics. Subsequent evidence has shown that the advantages of this drug go beyond simple glucose homoeostasis and weight reduction. Several randomized clinical trials have, in fact, highlighted the effect of semaglutide on improving cardiovascular outcomes with a significant reduction in events in subjects with already diagnosed cardiovascular disease or at high risk. Furthermore, this drug has also proved effective in slowing the progression of nephropathy in diabetic patients and patients with chronic renal failure. These effects are probably due to multiple mechanisms related to weight loss and glycaemic control, anti-inflammatory and antithrombotic properties, and a direct mechanism of vascular and renal protection. More recently, a formulation that requires the oral intake of the drug once a day has been introduced on the market, which maintains the efficacy results of the subcutaneous formulation unchanged.

Key numbers

20%

Reduction in risk

Reduction in cardiovascular events with semaglutide vs. placebo in the SELECT trial.

over 10 000

Total patients in SUSTAIN program

Patients enrolled in the SUSTAIN trials evaluating subcutaneous semaglutide.

over 9500

Total patients in PIONEER studies

Patients enrolled in the PIONEER trials assessing oral semaglutide.

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Funding

Competing interests

Conflict of interest: none declared.

PubMed

Comparing different ways of giving semaglutide for similar effectiveness

Abstract

Key numbers

Full Text

Funding

Competing interests

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Abstract

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Funding

Competing interests

Related papers

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Recent issues from the glp-1 therapies brief