A field of Ozempic and contents sit on a desk in Dudley, North Tyneside, Britain, October 31, 2023.
George Frey | Reuters
Novo Nordisk buyers appeared unperturbed Thursday by a vital Harvard report that linked weight reduction medicine to a uncommon eye situation.
Semaglutide, which is current in weight reduction medicine together with Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy, is likely to be related to an elevated danger of a uncommon eye illness, in keeping with a study carried out by Harvard Medical Faculty.
Analysts stated the research outcomes have been “hardly a game-changer,” nevertheless. 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 am London time.
The Harvard report discovered that sufferers with sort 2 diabetes or weight problems, who’re prescribed semaglutide, have an elevated danger 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 prone to be identified with the attention situation in comparison with sufferers who weren’t prescribed the burden loss medicine, the research 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 extensive,” in keeping with Deutsche Financial institution analyst Emmanuel Papadakis.
The worst case situation would possible be an additional replace to the label warning part of the medicine, which is “hardly a game-changer,” stated Papadakis.
He added that Deutsche Financial institution typically regards semaglutide medicines as “some of the derisked therapeutic courses in business historical past from a security perspective.”
A spokesperson from Novo Nordisk stated the optic nerve illness NAION isn’t an “hostile drug response for the marketed formulations of semaglutide” as per the accredited labels. They added that there are “key methodological limitations” to the research such because the “small variety of folks” with sort 2 diabetes or weight problems that have been uncovered to semaglutide and have been included within the trial.
“Affected person security is a high precedence for Novo Nordisk, and we take all stories about hostile occasions from use of our medicines very significantly,” the spokesperson stated.
Recognition for the blockbuster medicine has seen Novo Nordisk develop to grow to be probably the most helpful firm in Europe, with a valuation bigger than Denmark's complete gross home product final 12 months.
Wegovy has additionally been proven to have well being advantages past losing a few pounds and regulating blood sugar. The Meals and Drug Administration accredited it in March to be used in decreasing the danger of coronary heart illness.
The medicine, nevertheless, have confronted scrutiny after some sufferers reported experiencing abdomen paralysis and suicidal ideation whereas taking them. A research carried out by researchers on the College of British Columbia famous an elevated danger of bowel obstruction, a dysfunction the place meals is blocked from passing by means of the small or giant gut, and pancreatitis, or pancreas irritation.
The labels for the medicine already embrace warnings about pancreatitis and certain types of bowel obstruction. A change in imaginative and prescient can also be listed as a possible facet impact for each Ozempic and Wegovy.
The US research, which was revealed on Wednesday, analysed knowledge from 16,827 sufferers from December 2017 by means of to November final 12 months. The researchers famous that additional research is required to evaluate whether or not semaglutide causes the attention situation.
CNBC's Jenni Reid contributed to this report.
