Novo Nordisk weight reduction medication linked to uncommon eye situation: examine
A field of Ozempic and contents sit on a desk in Dudley, North Tyneside, Britain, October 31, 2023.
George Frey | Reuters
Novo Nordisk traders appeared unperturbed Thursday by a vital Harvard report that linked weight reduction medication to a uncommon eye situation.
Semaglutide, which is current in weight reduction medication together with Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy, is likely to be related to an elevated threat of a uncommon eye illness, based on a examine carried out by Harvard Medical Faculty.
Analysts stated the examine outcomes have been “hardly a game-changer,” nonetheless. Shares within the Danish pharmaceutical firm’s shares have been little modified on Thursday, dipping in early morning commerce earlier than rising 0.1% as of 11:17 a.m. London time.
The Harvard report discovered that sufferers with kind 2 diabetes or weight problems, who’re prescribed semaglutide, have an elevated threat of nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) — a situation which may result in lack of imaginative and prescient in a single eye. Sufferers have been extra more likely to be recognized with the attention situation in comparison with sufferers who weren’t prescribed the load loss medication, the examine discovered.
Whereas the analysis paper does counsel “some correlation” with a uncommon ocular occasion, the standard of the proof is “vey low, the error bars are very wide,” based on Deutsche Financial institution analyst Emmanuel Papadakis.
The worst case situation would doubtless be an additional replace to the label warning part of the medication, which is “hardly a game-changer,” stated Papadakis.
He added that Deutsche Financial institution typically regards semaglutide drugs as “one of the most derisked therapeutic classes in industry history from a safety perspective.”
A spokesperson from Novo Nordisk stated the optic nerve illness NAION just isn’t an “adverse drug reaction for the marketed formulations of semaglutide” as per the accredited labels. They added that there are “key methodological limitations” to the examine such because the “small number of people” with kind 2 diabetes or weight problems that have been uncovered to semaglutide and have been included within the trial.
“Patient safety is a top priority for Novo Nordisk, and we take all reports about adverse events from use of our medicines very seriously,” the spokesperson stated.
Reputation for the blockbuster medication has seen Novo Nordisk develop to develop into essentially the most beneficial firm in Europe, with a valuation bigger than Denmark’s whole gross home product final yr.
Wegovy has additionally been proven to have well being advantages past dropping pounds and regulating blood sugar. The Meals and Drug Administration in March accredited it to be used in lowering the danger of coronary heart illness.
The medication, nonetheless, have confronted scrutiny after some sufferers reported experiencing abdomen paralysis and suicidal ideation whereas taking them. A examine carried out by researchers on the College of British Columbia famous an elevated threat of bowel obstruction, a dysfunction the place meals is blocked from passing via the small or massive gut, and pancreatitis, or pancreas irritation.
The labels for the medication already embody warnings about pancreatitis and sure sorts of bowel obstruction. A change in imaginative and prescient can be listed as a possible aspect impact for each Ozempic and Wegovy.
The U.S. examine, which was printed on Wednesday, analysed knowledge from 16,827 sufferers from December 2017 via to November final yr. The researchers famous that additional examine is required to evaluate whether or not semaglutide causes the attention situation.
CNBC’s Jenni Reid contributed to this report.
