US regulators found no link between weight-loss drugs like Novo Nordisk A/S’s Ozempic and suicidal thoughts, a positive sign for the popular medications as similar reviews in Europe remain ongoing.
“Our preliminary evaluation has not found evidence that use of these medicines causes suicidal thoughts or actions,” the US Food and Drug Administration said Thursday in a statement. However, because only a small number of events have been reported, the agency said it can’t definitively rule out the risk and will continue looking at the issue.
GLP-1 drugs like the ones made by Novo and Eli Lilly & Co. have been used for more than 15 years to help diabetes patients control blood sugar, but newer, more powerful versions are now helping patients shed dozens of pounds. European drug regulators last year announced an investigation after receiving reports of suicidal thoughts from patients taking GLP-1 drugs, including those made by Novo and Lilly.
US regulators launched their own review, looking at reports of suicidal thoughts and behaviors submitted to the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System, or FAERS, and determined that there was not a clear relationship with the use of GLP-1 medications. The agency also looked at data from large clinical trials and did not see any concerning signals, it said.
An independent study published in early January reached a similar conclusion, finding that people taking older, more common drugs for diabetes and weight loss were more likely to experience suicidal thoughts than those taking GLP-1s.
Millions of patients worldwide have begun using the drugs for weight loss, creating a market expected to reach about $100 billion by the end of decade, and prompting other drugmakers like AstraZeneca Plc and Amgen Inc. to rev up development of their own drug candidates.
