STEP UP Trial: Semaglutide 7.2mg Achieves 20.7% Mean Weight Loss Over 72 Weeks

Background The cardiovascular safety of oral semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist, has been established in persons with type 2 diabetes and high cardiovascular risk. An assessment of the cardiovascular efficacy of oral semaglutide in persons with type 2 diabetes and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, or both is needed. Methods In this double-blind, placebo-controlled, event-driven, superiority trial, we randomly assigned participants who were 50 years of age or older, had type 2 diabetes with a glycated hemoglobin level of 6.5 to 10.0%, and had known atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, or both to receive either once-daily oral semaglutide (maximal dose, 14 mg) or placebo, in addition to standard care. The primary outcome was major adverse cardiovascular events (a composite of death from cardiovascular causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke), assessed in a time-to-first-event analysis. The confirmatory secondary outcomes included major kidney disease events (a five-point composite outcome). Results Among the 9650 participants who had undergone randomization, the mean (±SD) follow-up was 47.5±10.9 months, and the median follow-up was 49.5 months. A primary-outcome event occurred in 579 of the 4825 participants (12.0%; incidence, 3.1 events per 100 person-years) in the oral semaglutide group, as compared with 668 of the 4825 participants (13.8%; incidence, 3.7 events per 100 person-years) in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.86; 95% confidence interval, 0.77 to 0.96; P=0.006). The results for the confirmatory secondary outcomes did not differ significantly between the two groups. The incidence of serious adverse events was 47.9% in the oral semaglutide group and 50.3% in the placebo group; the incidence of gastrointestinal disorders was 5.0% and 4.4%, respectively. Conclusions Among persons with type 2 diabetes and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, or both, the use of oral semaglutide was associated with a significantly lower risk of major adverse cardiovascular events than placebo, without an increase in the incidence of serious adverse events. (Funded by Novo Nordisk; SOUL ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03914326.)