Individuals who take a massively widespread diabetes and weight reduction drug might have an elevated likelihood of growing a uncommon imaginative and prescient situation that might result in blindness, in line with a brand new research. Researchers at Mass Eye and Ear—a Harvard-affiliated educating hospital in Boston, discovered that sufferers taking semaglutide—marketed as Ozempic and Wegovy—have the next probability of growing 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 prone to be recognized with NAION in comparison with these not taking the treatment, the research discovered. The chance was even greater for obese or overweight sufferers, who have been over seven instances extra prone to develop the situation.
NAION is a uncommon situation, affecting solely 2-10 folks per 100,000. It entails probably harmful reductions in blood move to the optic nerve, which may result in everlasting imaginative and prescient loss within the eye.
“The usage of these medication has exploded all through industrialized nations they usually have offered very important advantages in some ways, however future discussions between a affected person and their doctor ought to embrace NAION as a possible threat,” mentioned Joseph Rizzo, the research’s corresponding writer and director at Mass Eye and Ear, in line with a press release shared by CNN.
For its half, Novo Nordisk informed the Nationwide Put up that it stays assured in Ozempic’s security—though it takes damaging reviews “very critically.”
“Semaglutide has been studied in giant real-world proof research and sturdy scientific improvement applications with a cumulative publicity together with from post-marketing use of over 22 million affected person years,” the corporate mentioned. “The totality of information gives 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 almost 5% Wednesday to $136 earlier than recovering barely to shut at $138.60. The information additionally appeared to impression drugmaker Eli Lilly (LLY), which produces comparable diabetes and weight-loss medication Mounjaro and Zepbound, with its inventory dipping shut to three% to finish at $898.10.
Ozempic, first permitted by the FDA in December 2017 for sort 2 diabetes therapy, shortly achieved blockbuster standing with over $1 billion in world gross sales inside its first two years in the marketplace.
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 lowered calorie consumption and subsequent weight reduction. In scientific research, folks with weight problems who took Ozempic together with way of life modifications misplaced extra weight than these not taking the treatment.
Ozempic is primarily indicated for bettering blood sugar ranges in adults with sort 2 diabetes and decreasing the chance of main cardiovascular occasions in these with established coronary heart illness, however many healthcare suppliers have been prescribing it for weight reduction resulting from its effectiveness.
The researchers famous that the best threat of growing NAION was noticed inside the first 12 months of beginning semaglutide therapy. Nonetheless, they emphasised that the research doesn’t conclusively show that Ozempic or Wegovy immediately trigger NAION, and additional analysis is required to determine a causal relationship.
In response to the research, some consultants suggest warning.
“I don’t suppose it is a sturdy sufficient sign to take sufferers off the drug,” Susan Mollan, a neuro-ophthalmologist in Birmingham, England, informed Bloomberg.
The research’s outcomes come at a time when Ozempic and comparable medication 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 research from March 2024 concluded that Ozempic might 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 worth decreased. Novo Nordisk inventory fell over 12% after the discharge of the price research, however quickly rebounded.
One other widespread drug, Viagra, has additionally been linked to imaginative and prescient issues, and continues to be extraordinarily widespread.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
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