Novo Nordisk inventory worth drops as diabetes and weight-loss medication Ozempic and Saxenda investigated

Two medication used as diabetes and weight-loss therapies are being investigated after some sufferers reported having suicidal ideas.

Both Ozempic and Saxenda are being investigated by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), after Iceland’s well being regulator flagged two circumstances of Ozempic sufferers having suicidal ideas and one on Saxenda desirous about self-harm.

Ozempic, which comprises the lively ingredient semaglutide, was designed as a diabetes therapy however has gained popularity as a “miracle” weight-loss aid.

It is produced by Novo Nordisk, the Danish drugmaker. Shares within the agency fell by 1% on Monday following news of the investigation, Reuters reported.

Novo’s earlier and fewer efficient weight-loss drug, Saxenda, can be an injection that suppresses urge for food.

It comprises liraglutide and within the UK is accessible on prescription as part of a weight administration plan.

Novo Nordisk mentioned affected person security was its high precedence and it handled all reviews about adversarial occasions very severely.

Its security monitoring had to this point discovered no “causal association” between the self-harming ideas and the medication, it mentioned in a press release.

Suicidal ideas should not listed as a aspect impact within the EU product data for both drug.

But within the US, prescribing directions for Wegovy – which additionally comprises semaglutide – say sufferers must be monitored for suicidal ideas or behaviour.

The warning is there due to dangers related to different weight administration medication, quite than as a result of drug trials instructed an elevated danger of suicidal behaviour, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mentioned.

Read extra:
Next wave of weight-loss jabs could be coming – without the side effects
Obesity patients feel like ‘second-class citizens’ as Ozempic demand soars

There have been a minimum of 60 reviews of suicidal ideas in sufferers on semaglutide since 2018, based on the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS).

At least 70 reviews of suicidal considering in customers of liraglutide have been made to the FAERS since 2010.

Information in these reviews has not been verified and a report just isn’t proof of causation, the FDA mentioned.

The EMA mentioned it will think about whether or not its evaluation must be prolonged to different medicines that regulate urge for food by mimicking a intestine hormone, often called GLP-1 receptor agonists.