Individuals who take a massively common diabetes and weight reduction drug could have an elevated likelihood of creating a uncommon imaginative and prescient situation that might result in blindness, in line with a brand new examine. Researchers at Mass Eye and Ear—a Harvard-affiliated instructing hospital in Boston, discovered that sufferers taking semaglutide—marketed as Ozempic and Wegovy—have a better probability of creating nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION).
The inventory of the corporate behind Ozempic, Novo Nordisk, dipped sharply following the discharge of the report.
Sufferers with diabetes who have been prescribed semaglutide have been roughly 4 instances extra more likely to be recognized with NAION in comparison with these not taking the remedy, the examine discovered. The danger was even increased for obese or overweight sufferers, who have been over seven instances extra more likely to develop the situation.
NAION is a uncommon situation, affecting solely 2-10 folks per 100,000. It includes probably harmful reductions in blood move to the optic nerve, which may result in everlasting imaginative and prescient loss within the eye.
“Using these medicine has exploded all through industrialized international locations and so they have offered very vital advantages in some ways, however future discussions between a affected person and their doctor ought to embody NAION as a possible danger,” mentioned Joseph Rizzo, the examine’s corresponding writer and director at Mass Eye and Ear, in line with a press release shared by CNN.
For its half, Novo Nordisk instructed the Nationwide Put up that it stays assured in Ozempic’s security—regardless that it takes detrimental reviews “very severely.”
“Semaglutide has been studied in massive real-world proof research and strong scientific improvement packages with a cumulative publicity together with from post-marketing use of over 22 million affected person years,” the corporate mentioned. “The totality of information supplies reassurance of the security profile of semaglutide.”
The corporate didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Decrypt.
Novo Nordisk’s inventory (NVO) fell practically 5% Wednesday to $136 earlier than recovering barely to shut at $138.60. The information additionally appeared to affect drugmaker Eli Lilly (LLY), which produces comparable diabetes and weight-loss medicine Mounjaro and Zepbound, with its inventory dipping shut to three% to finish at $898.10.
Ozempic, first accredited by the FDA in December 2017 for kind 2 diabetes therapy, rapidly achieved blockbuster standing with over $1 billion in international gross sales inside its first two years available on the market.
The drug works by mimicking the hormone GLP-1, which helps regulate urge for food and blood sugar ranges. This mechanism makes sufferers really feel fuller and fewer hungry, resulting in diminished calorie consumption and subsequent weight reduction. In scientific research, folks with weight problems who took Ozempic together with life-style modifications misplaced extra weight than these not taking the remedy.
Ozempic is primarily indicated for bettering blood sugar ranges in adults with kind 2 diabetes and lowering the danger of main cardiovascular occasions in these with established coronary heart illness, however many healthcare suppliers have been prescribing it for weight reduction as a result of its effectiveness.
The researchers famous that the very best danger of creating NAION was noticed inside the first yr of beginning semaglutide therapy. Nonetheless, they emphasised that the examine doesn’t conclusively show that Ozempic or Wegovy instantly trigger NAION, and additional analysis is required to determine a causal relationship.
In response to the examine, some consultants advocate warning.
“I don’t suppose it is a robust sufficient sign to take sufferers off the drug,” Susan Mollan, a neuro-ophthalmologist in Birmingham, England, instructed Bloomberg.
The examine’s outcomes come at a time when Ozempic and comparable medicine have been hailed as game-changers within the therapy of diabetes and weight problems. Their recognition has soared to the purpose that markets have been struggling to maintain up with the demand, creating a really profitable marketplace for drugmakers.
In a earlier controversy, a examine from March 2024 concluded that Ozempic could possibly be profitably produced for lower than $5 a month, a stark distinction to its present US record value of $915. Nonetheless, demand for the drug has not subsided, nor has the value decreased. Novo Nordisk inventory fell over 12% after the discharge of the fee examine, however quickly rebounded.
One other common drug, Viagra, has additionally been linked to imaginative and prescient issues, and remains to be extraordinarily common.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
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