Data presented at an American Diabetes Association conference explores the impact of semaglutide 2.4 mg on obstructive sleep apnea incidence in adults with cardiovascular disease.
Key takeaways:
- Semaglutide injection 2.4 mg was associated with a significantly lower incidence of obstructive sleep apnea compared to placebo in adults with overweight or obesity and established cardiovascular disease.
- Among study participants without OSA at baseline, there were 30 incident cases in the semaglutide group compared to 65 in the placebo group.
- Semaglutide injection 2.4 mg was associated with a reduced risk of major adverse cardiovascular events regardless of a patient’s OSA status.
- Semaglutide is currently not approved to treat obstructive sleep apnea, and safety and efficacy for this condition have not been established.
Novo Nordisk presented new data at the 2026 Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association highlighting the impact of semaglutide across various weight-related conditions, including obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
The sleep-specific findings were detailed in the study, “Semaglutide 2.4mg and obstructive sleep apnea in patients with overweight or obesity and cardiovascular disease: a post hoc analysis of SELECT.” The post hoc analysis of the SELECT trial assessed the impact of semaglutide injection 2.4 mg on the incidence of OSA, as well as the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in participants with reported OSA.
Researchers used a questionnaire to identify OSA at baseline, finding that 2,550 participants (14.5%) reported having the condition. Incident OSA was then captured via adverse event reporting in those who did not have OSA at baseline.
According to the data, semaglutide injection 2.4 mg was associated with a significantly lower incidence of obstructive sleep apnea (HR [95% CI]=0.48 [0.31-0.74]) in adults with overweight or obesity and established cardiovascular disease, compared with placebo. Among those without OSA at baseline, there were a total of 95 incident cases of OSA, with 30 occurring in the semaglutide 2.4 mg group and 65 in the placebo group.
Furthermore, the analysis showed that semaglutide injection 2.4 mg was associated with a reduced risk of MACE regardless of OSA status.
“These new analyses build on the growing body of clinical evidence for semaglutide, an important medicine that has already been extensively studied not only in obesity but also in cardiovascular disease and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH),” says Andrea Traina, PharmD, senior medical director, obesity and liver health, Novo Nordisk, in a release. “We’re continuing to invest in deepening our understanding of the potential for semaglutide to better serve appropriate patients across a diverse set of obesity-related complications.”
The SELECT trial was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, event-driven superiority trial evaluating the efficacy of semaglutide 2.4 mg versus placebo as an adjunct to cardiovascular standard of care.
“Obesity is a chronic disease that can cause many complications in the body, contributing to serious comorbidities and broader health issues,” says Domenica Rubino, MD, founder and director, Washington Center for Weight Management & Research, in a release. “These analyses, across the spectrum of clinical trial programs conducted to evaluate semaglutide, add to our understanding of the critical ways semaglutide may impact those complications, with the goal of going beyond weight loss to improvements in overall health.”
Novo Nordisk notes that these exploratory post hoc analyses are hypothesis-generating, and further work investigating the clinical validity of the results would be of value. Semaglutide is not approved to treat obstructive sleep apnea, and safety and efficacy for this condition have not been established. Additionally, semaglutide injection 2.4 mg contains a Boxed Warning for possible thyroid tumors, including cancer.
