Study wrapper · #1151
Effect of semaglutide on kidney outcomes in the SELECT, FLOW, and SOUL trials: a prespecified pooled analysis.
Editor's note
This is a prespecified, participant-level pooling of three phase 3 trials, which puts it near the top of the evidence hierarchy for kidney outcomes with semaglutide. The 16% relative reduction in the primary kidney composite was consistent across a broad cardio-kidney-metabolic population, with and without diabetes, and across oral and injectable dosing. The authors note the effect may not be fully explained by glucose or weight changes, which keeps the mechanism question open. Novo Nordisk funded the analysis, a standard caveat for sponsor-led pooled work.
Plain-language abstract
Researchers combined individual patient data from three large placebo-controlled semaglutide trials (SELECT, FLOW, and SOUL) covering nearly 31,000 people with heart, kidney, or metabolic disease. Over roughly three to four years, people on semaglutide were 16% less likely to hit a serious kidney endpoint — a major drop in kidney function, kidney failure, or kidney- or cardiovascular-related death — than those on placebo. Side effects looked similar to what earlier GLP-1 studies have shown, and the benefit appeared whether the drug was injected or taken as a pill.