Latest news with #StephenGough
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Novo Nordisk semaglutide data shows new health benefits across serious chronic diseases
Novo Nordisk A/S Data across obesity, cardiovascular disease, MASH, type 2 diabetes, as well as advances in obesity-related care to be presented at ECO 2025 – covering burden, and the value of treatment and prevention Analysis of the landmark SELECT trial to uncover new insights into the early cardiovascular benefits of semaglutide Real-world studies reinforce value of semaglutide in obesity Bagsværd, Denmark, 6 May 2025 – Novo Nordisk today announced that new data spanning the company's industry-leading portfolio across metabolic and cardiovascular health will be presented at the upcoming 32nd European Congress on Obesity (ECO), 11–14 May 2025. The data will further extend the wide-ranging evidence base for semaglutide through real-world evidence studies and additional analysis of the landmark cardiovascular outcomes trial, SELECT, as well as part 1 of the phase 3 ESSENCE trial in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). Data will also be presented on the wider societal impacts of treating and preventing obesity, alongside analysis of the burden of obesity in adolescents. 'Obesity is one of the greatest healthcare challenges we face globally, impacting the lives of hundreds of millions of people. Without effective interventions, the global burden of obesity and its complications will continue to rise,' said Stephen Gough, senior vice president and head of Chief Medical Office at Novo Nordisk. 'Our broad and robust semaglutide data presented at ECO, including its impact on weight loss in a real-world setting and its early clinical effect on cardiovascular events and death, significantly adds to the growing body of evidence showing the value of semaglutide to individuals, healthcare systems and society.' 'We are dedicated to leading the way in defeating obesity and are pleased to return to ECO to present new, strong semaglutide data,' said Ludovic Helfgott, executive vice president of Product & Portfolio Strategy at Novo Nordisk. 'Our investment into the understanding and treatment of obesity continues to reveal new insights, with semaglutide showing its potential to improve health in obesity, heart disease and liver disease. Our data shows that semaglutide provides early protection against heart disease even before significant weight loss occurs and that for people in treatment, our digital support solutions have the potential to enhance weight loss further.' Novo Nordisk abstracts to be presented, some of these data for semaglutide are investigational: Abstract Title Abstract presentation details Estimating the effect of overweight and obesity during adolescence on the risk of long-term comorbidities: a population-based retrospective analysis in England between 2008 and 2023 Oral Presentation (AD07.05) S Senniappan (UK) 12 May, 12:30–12:45 CEST Estimating the prevalence of overweight and obesity and the incidence of comorbidities in adolescents living with overweight and obesity: a cohort study using routinely collected healthcare data in England between 2008 and 2023 Poster presentation (PO3.038) 12 May, 18:00-19:30 CEST Association between engagement with the WegovyCare digital self-support app and weight loss in a real-world setting Oral presentation (AD12.06) B L Heitmann (Denmark) 13 May, 12:45–13:00 CEST Early Clinical Benefit of Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease: A Secondary Analysis of the SELECT Trial Oral Presentation (AD15.04) J Plutzky (US) 13 May, 17:15–17:30 CEST Use and Effectiveness of Once-weekly Semaglutide in US Adults with Overweight or Obesity in Clinical Practice Poster presentation (PO4.070) 13 May 18:00–19:30 CEST A personalized treat-to-target approach for obesity management: Integrating changes in adiposity measures with changes in biomarker levels towards reaching low-risk states of incident T2D and ASCVD Poster presentation (PO4.171) 13 May, 18:00–19:30 CEST What are the most important research questions within prediabetes? A Priority Setting Partnership in collaboration with patients, healthcare professionals and researchers Poster presentation (PO4.194) 13 May, 18:00-19:30 CEST Metrics that matter: identifying endpoints for capturing the broad health impacts of obesity prevention Poster presentation (PO2.058) 13 May A novel framework to assess the prevention value of a health intervention Poster presentation (PO4.143) 13 May Weight-independent benefits of semaglutide on histology and non-invasive tests in participants with biopsy-defined MASH: Post hoc analysis of the ESSENCE trial part 1 Oral Presentation (Part of accepted scientific symposium: The MASH – Obesity intersection) P Newsome (UK) 14 May, 09:30–11:00 (presentation time 10:15-10:40) CEST Predicting weight loss using self-reported, digitally collected, real-world data after initiation of semaglutide treatment Poster presentation (PO4.095) Quantifying the Productivity Gains of Semaglutide Treatment in the UK for the Population Eligible for Reimbursement: a Modelling Study Using the Wider Societal Impacts Framework Poster presentation (PO4.194) Obesity is a chronic, multi-factorial disease influenced by biological, psychological, and environmental factors that often puts people on the pathway to other serious chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease (CVD) and metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, and MASH.1,2,3 A significant proportion of the cardiovascular risk associated with these diseases is attributable to shared metabolic risk factors.3 CVD accounts for around 70% of deaths in people living with obesity and is the leading cause of death in people with type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease and MASH.3, 4, 5, 6
Business Times
02-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Shorter-duration bonds shine in Asia as Trump's tariffs roil markets
[SINGAPORE] US President Donald Trump's tariffs shook markets across asset classes, sending investors searching for shelter. Some landed on cash, some on gold, but some money managers are finding comfort in fixed income. 'In these periods of volatility, people should look to credit and fixed income, because the income on offer is as high as it's been since the start of my career in 2010 post-financial crisis,' said Stephen Gough, Singapore-based managing director and head of Asia credit at BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager with US$11.58 trillion in assets under management. 'The yields on offer more than compensate you for the volatility and credit and if you are a little worried about equities, credit is a good place to get 6 to 9 per cent depending on whether you want to be at investment grade or higher,' he said. 'And we like Asia because of the shorter duration, so it's very hard to have a negative absolute return with the carry where it is.' Stephen Gough, managing director and head of Asia credit at BlackRock, says: 'We like Asia because of the shorter duration, so it's very hard to have a negative absolute return with the carry where it is.' PHOTO: BLACKROCK The S&P 500 index fell 12.1 per cent between Apr 2 and 8, after the tariffs were announced; it then jumped 9.5 per cent on Apr 9, when Trump announced a 90-day reprieve. As at Apr 28, the S&P 500 index had fallen 5.9 per cent in the year to date. The tariffs also roiled bond markets across the risk spectrum, as high-yield bonds globally experienced the biggest slump since 2020, bringing yield premiums up 53 basis points, and investors started selling off long-dated US treasuries. However, while sentiment on the equity market remains depressed, the recent repricing of fixed-income markets has made global bond yields look more attractive than a month ago, said Chris Wong, Singapore-based investment director of fixed income at Schroders, which manages £778.7 billion (S$1.36 trillion). BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up 'Risk assets such as equities will remain under pressure due to weak sentiment and negative chain effects from Trump's policies, which will very likely lead to slower economic growth,' he said. 'In this scenario, fixed income would be a great defensive play that generates income and potentially offsets equity risks over the longer term.' 'The protection offered by a rotation into bonds during a downturn in the equity market is nothing new,' said Timothy Tan and Jason Lee, Asia ex-Japan credit strategists for Bloomberg Intelligence. However, the unwelcome correlation of US bonds, equity and the US dollar left struggling since Trump announced the tariffs is unprecedented, they said, adding that investors will also keep an eye on whether the Federal Reserve is able to bring inflation back to its 3 per cent target, which affects the real yield for US dollar asset investors. Within Asia credit, BlackRock identifies India as a country with potential because the growth story still looks strong, and it seems to be 'on the right side of the tariffs', said Gough. India was hit with 26 per cent tariffs, far above the minimum 10 per cent tariff slapped on countries such as Singapore, but lower than the 34 per cent on China and 49 per cent on Cambodia. 'We see the Reserve Bank of India as being one of the more responsive and are definitely forecasting for rates to be cut there as well... A lot of the companies that make up our universe are somewhere between banks that still have fairly good growth and renewable companies, which are essentially immune from tariffs,' he said. Renewable companies in India are well-protected because most of their business is driven by local demand with long-term contracts. They are also well-supported by the government, he added. Aside from India, Gough noted that gaming companies in Macau have had strong revenue growth and that the financials sector in the Asia-Pacific has generally been strong. Still, the asset manager has moved up the risk curve 'in terms of going from potentially sitting in the more subordinate parts of the capital to the more senior parts of the capital', he said. 'So we sort of de-risked our financials, but with the spread widening, we think that's quite interesting. We actually quite like Australian financials... Australian banks are very, very well-capitalised, fairly immune from a lot of the tariff growth; and (the country) is a fairly insular economy,' he added. Similarly, Wellington Management, the more than US$1 trillion private asset management firm, has been 'adding credit risk over the past few weeks and continues to favour companies with high-quality balance sheets, durable free cash flow and ample liquidity to navigate a potential demand slowdown', said Boston-based Connor Fitzgerald, fixed-income portfolio manager there. 'Our interest rate outlook remains similar to the beginning of April – we believe the US economy was already entering a slowdown before the impacts of tariffs were accounted for, and that the US economy has a greater than 50 per cent chance of a recession in the next 12 months,' he said. Connor Fitzgerald, fixed-income portfolio manager at Wellington Management, says: 'We believe the US economy was already entering a slowdown before the impacts of tariffs were accounted for, and that the US economy has a greater than 50 per cent chance of a recession in the next 12 months.' PHOTO: WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT 'It appears that the Trump administration may be underappreciating the value of the capital account of the US, which has boosted growth in the US for the past 15 years. In addition, we believe if we do enter into a recession in the US, the revenues collected by the US government will contract and therefore the budget deficit will expand. This would be counter to the administration's goals and leads us to be wary of long-duration fixed income and Treasuries in the US,' he added. Fixed income could be an attractive option for retail and high-net-worth investors in Asia to add to their portfolios, Fitzgerald said. 'We believe high-quality, intermediate-duration credit can offer attractive income at 5 to 5.5 per cent yields, with the prospect for additional price appreciation if there is a recession and the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates.' High yield – if the investors have the risk appetite for it – can perform even better, but the challenge is convincing the new generation of retail investors, said BlackRock's Gough. 'That's the challenge – to take the younger generation away from thinking it's either cash, crypto or equities, to thinking there is something that sits in between... If you had asked me what the S&P would have returned before all that happened at the beginning of the year, I probably would have said 10 per cent, and you could have gotten nine in high yield, right? And if I look at where our starting point is now, you probably still can get nine or 10 in high yield, but equities, I don't know,' Gough said.
CNN
28-01-2025
- Health
- CNN
FDA approves Ozempic to reduce risks from chronic kidney disease in diabetes patients
Ozempic, the blockbuster GLP-1 drug that was originally approved to treat type 2 diabetes, has now also been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to reduce certain risks associated with chronic kidney disease, drugmaker Novo Nordisk said Tuesday. A Phase 3 clinical trial found that injections of the semaglutide medication once weekly reduced the risk of kidney disease worsening by 24% in people who also had diabetes. It also reduced the risk of kidney failure and cut the risk of death from heart disease by about 5% in adults with both type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease, the company said in a news release. Chronic kidney disease is a common complication for people living with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, which is one of the leading causes of death in the US and worldwide; about a third of adults with diabetes also have chronic kidney disease, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The clinical trial tested the efficacy of Ozempic when added to the standard of care, not as a replacement for other treatments for disease management such as medicines to manage blood pressure, including ACE inhibitors and ARBs. About 3,500 adults across 28 countries were enrolled in the trial, which started in 2019 and followed participants for an average of about 3½ years. The new indications, approved Tuesday by the FDA, make Ozempic the most broadly indicated drug in its class, with the largest set of specific medical conditions that it may be prescribed to treat. Novo Nordisk is conducting a different study to understand how and why semgalutide seems to reduce the progression of kidney disease, said Stephen Gough, global chief medical officer and senior vice president at Novo Nordisk. But even though scientists don't fully understand the mechanisms behind them, the positive effects are strong: The clinical study was stopped early after reaching positive endpoints sooner than expected, and no new safety risks were identified in this trial, he said. Get CNN Health's weekly newsletter Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Friday from the CNN Health team. 'This really means something to the patients,' Gough told CNN. 'The impact on not just kidney disease but also cardiovascular disease and on all-cause death.' Ozempic and other semaglutide injections such as Wegovy have been in short supply for years due to their rapid popularity. The FDA now lists Ozempic as 'available,' but there is still high demand. 'This is a medicine that's already available, both in diabetes clinics and now in renal clinics, so I would hope the uptake would start pretty quickly,' Gough said, adding that he hopes the confidence that comes with the data behind this approval will aid clinicians who are making daily decisions about how and when to use different treatments. 'It does help clinicians with their decision-making process, and it helps them focus those medicines to the patients who will benefit the most,' he said.
New York Times
28-01-2025
- Health
- New York Times
F.D.A. Approves Ozempic to Treat Kidney Disease
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved Ozempic to reduce the risk of serious complications in people who have both type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Type 2 diabetes is a leading cause of chronic kidney disease, which affects more than one in seven U.S. adults. The medication can lower the chance that patients with both conditions will undergo worsening kidney disease, kidney failure and death from cardiovascular issues. 'Over the last 20 years, it's been an area where researchers tried hard but delivered very little,' said Dr. Stephen Gough, senior vice president of global medical affairs at Novo Nordisk, the company that makes Ozempic. 'To have something new like this is really exciting, and offers promise to patients,' he said. The F.D.A. based its decision to expand the approved uses of Ozempic on research showing that people with Type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease who took the drug had a 24 percent lower likelihood of experiencing a complication, like requiring dialysis or a transplant, compared to people who took a placebo. They also had slower rates of kidney decline and were less likely to die from cardiovascular problems. 'The more we can delay the decline in kidney function, the better,' said Dr. Melanie Hoenig, a nephrologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Dr. Hoenig said she already prescribes Ozempic to some of her patients. Doctors have long expressed frustration with just how few options there are for treatment. Many patients take medications to lower blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol, which tend to be elevated in people with chronic kidney disease. Patients also sometimes take drugs to alleviate swelling that occurs when the kidneys can't properly filter fluid, as well as medications to manage iron, calcium and vitamin D levels. Doctors also routinely encourage lifestyle changes, including diet and exercise modifications, in part because these can help manage Type 2 diabetes. High blood sugar can damage blood vessels in the kidneys, preventing them from filtering waste out of blood. Roughly 40 percent of people with Type 2 diabetes will develop chronic kidney disease, Dr. Gough said. It isn't clear exactly how Ozempic might benefit the kidneys beyond managing diabetes. Researchers have theorized that Ozempic reduces inflammation throughout the body, including the kidneys. That could help explain why the medication and similar drugs are proving to be so useful for a range of chronic conditions, including cardiovascular issues. The drugs do come with side effects, most commonly gastrointestinal issues like nausea, vomiting and stomach pain. The approval means that doctors will now be able to prescribe the drug specifically for chronic kidney disease in diabetic patients, and insurance companies will face more pressure to cover Ozempic. As more people seek out Ozempic, though, Novo Nordisk has struggled to keep up with demand. The F.D.A. lists semaglutide, the compound in Ozempic and the weight loss drug Wegovy, as currently in shortage. 'Many people, unfortunately, cannot get it,' Dr. Hoenig said. 'But if they can and it works for them, and they can tolerate it, it's a wonderful thing to have more tools.'
