Free Wegovy trialled in deprived areas of Scotland

Thousands of people from some of Scotland's most deprived communities will get access to Novo Nordisk's GLP-1 agonist Wegovy in a study looking at the real-world impact of weight-loss medicines.

The Scotland CardioMetabolic Impact Study (SCoMIS) study is being run by the pharma company, the University of Glasgow, and clinical research organisation IQVIA, and will involve up to 5,000 subjects.

The aim of the project, which has started with £650,000 in government support for the design phase, is to provide insight into the lives of people living with obesity and health inequalities across the UK.

It will gauge how incretin-based weight-loss medicines like Wegovy (semaglutide) can be delivered effectively and equitably via the NHS, and measure their impact on quality of life, overweight-related illness, the use of NHS resources, and overall costs to the health service. It will also assess whether interventions to reduce weight in this way can help people stay in work, reduce illness-related absences, and encourage greater participation in society.

Ultimately, the hope is that it will demonstrate that providing access to weight-loss therapies could offer a relatively inexpensive way to reduce the risk of chronic, long-term, and expensive conditions like cardiovascular disease and cancer, saving billions of pounds for the NHS in the long run.

After the design phase, the "multimillion-pound" study should start in earnest next year, with subjects accessing Wegovy through pharmacies and GP surgeries. This first stage will focus on finalising the protocol, confirming how patients will be recruited, and ensuring the main study is "practical, fair, and ready to launch at scale."

UK Health Innovation Minister Dr Zubir Ahmed said the study is part of the effort by the government to redirect the NHS to focus on prevention, rather than treating illness, as laid out in the NHS 10-Year Plan.

"As a practising NHS surgeon and Glasgow MP, I know firsthand the impact of the obesity crisis that plagues Scotland – and the litany of health problems it leads to," he added, pointing out that more than one in three adults in Scotland's poorest areas are living with obesity.

SCoMIS will also make use of AI-driven digital technologies pioneered by IQVIA to support patient access, engagement, and data collection, according to the study sponsors. Greater use of digital technologies is another part of the NHS 10-Year Plan, along with shifting patient care from hospitals to community settings.

"While tackling obesity requires multifactorial public health action, incretin therapies add a powerful new tool to the national obesity strategy," said Jason Gill, SCoMIS lead and professor of cardiometabolic health at the University of Glasgow.

"The burden of obesity is greatest in the most deprived segments of society, and the status quo risks widening health inequalities. SCoMIS will provide the evidence the NHS and Government need to decide how best to use these medicines to improve health and reduce inequalities."

Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash