Wegovy Now Treats Advanced Liver Disease
The U.S. Food and Drug Governance (FDA) has approved the injected weight loss drug Wegovy for a new use: treating adults with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).
Wegovy is now approved to treat adults with metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH)-an advanced form of MASLD-who have extensive fibrosis, or scarring, in the liver, the FDA said in a statement. Wegovy is already approved to treat obesity and to prevent heart attacks and strokes in people at high risk for these events.
“This is a very exciting progress for people who are experiencing MASH,” says Ani Amirian Kardashian, MD, an assistant professor and hepatologist with Keck Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
“Prior to Wegovy,there was only one other FDA-approved medication for MASH – Rezdiffra – so treatment options have been quite limited,” Dr. Kardashian says. “The mainstay of treatment for MASH has been dietary and lifestyle modification to achieve adequate weight loss to reverse fat buildup and inflammation in the liver.”
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