For people who are overweight or obese, have heart disease but not diabetes, taking a weekly semaglutide shot might help them live healthier, longer lives — and it would cost about $73,000 for each...

If the price of semaglutide is cut in half, it might become a good value for treating people with heart disease who are overweight or obese—even if they don’t have diabetes—because it could add healthy years of life for less than $50,000 per year of quality life gained.

For people who are overweight or obese, have heart disease but not diabetes, the biggest things that decide whether semaglutide is worth the cost are how well it prevents death and how much the drug itself costs.

In obese adults with existing heart disease but no diabetes, a weekly injection of semaglutide at 2.4 mg is associated with a lower rate of serious heart-related events such as heart attack or stroke.

Taking a weekly semaglutide shot (2.4 mg) for about a year helps people with extra weight feel more physically capable and improves their overall quality of life—more than a dummy pill would.

In obese adults with heart disease but no diabetes, taking a weekly 2.4 mg dose of semaglutide was linked to an average treatment duration of 34.2 months and follow-up of 39.8 months in clinical trials.