Novo Nordisk diet pill linked to rare eye disease: study | Wilnesh News

Novo Nordisk investors appeared calm Thursday over a major Harvard report linking the weight-loss drug to a rare eye disease.

Weight-loss drugs like Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy contain semaglutide, which may increase the risk of a rare eye disease, according to one study. study Conducted by Harvard Medical School.

However, analysts said the findings were “hardly a game changer.” Shares in the Danish pharmaceutical company were little changed on Thursday, falling in early trade and rising 0.1% as of 11:17 a.m. London time.

The Harvard report found that patients with type 2 diabetes or obesity who took semaglutide were at increased risk of developing non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), a condition that can cause blindness in one eye. The study found that patients were more likely to be diagnosed with an eye disease than those not taking weight-loss drugs.

Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Papadakis said that while the research paper did show “some association” with the rare eye event, the quality of the evidence was “very low and the error bars were very wide.”

Papadakis said the worst-case scenario could be further updates to drug label warnings, which would be “hardly a game changer.”

He added that Deutsche Bank generally considers semaglutide drugs to be “one of the most dangerous therapeutic classes in the history of the industry from a safety perspective.”

Novo Nordisk spokesman says optic nerve disease NAION According to the approved labeling, this is not an “adverse drug reaction associated with marketed semaglutide formulations.” They added that the study had “critical methodological limitations,” such as the fact that “a small number of people with type 2 diabetes or obesity” were exposed to semaglutide and included in the trial.

“Patient safety is Novo Nordisk’s top priority and we take all reports of adverse events involving the use of our medicines very seriously,” a spokesperson said.

The popularity of these blockbuster drugs has grown Novo Nordisk into Europe’s most valuable company, with a valuation exceeding Denmark’s gross domestic product last year.

In addition to weight loss and blood sugar regulation, Wegovy has been shown to have health benefits. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its use in March to reduce the risk of heart disease.

However, the drugs have come under scrutiny after some patients reported gastric paralysis and suicidal ideation while taking them. A study by researchers at the University of British Columbia noted an increased risk of intestinal obstruction (a condition in which food cannot pass through the small or large intestine) and pancreatitis, or inflammation of the pancreas.

The labels for these drugs already contain the following warnings: pancreatitis and some type intestinal obstruction. Vision changes are also listed as potential side effects of Ozempic and Wegovy.

The US study, published on Wednesday, analyzed data from 16,827 patients between December 2017 and November last year. The researchers noted that further research is needed to evaluate whether semaglutide causes eye disease.

CNBC’s Jenni Reid contributed to this report.