The results of the nine-month investigation by the EU health regulator should be reassuring to anyone taking Ozempic and other similar drugs to treat type 2 diabetes and/or obesity. EU officials said on Friday they had found no evidence of a causal link between GLP-1 drugs and an increased risk of suicide or suicidal ideation.
Last summer, health regulators in Iceland, the United Kingdom and the European Union announced they had received case reports linking the use of GLP-1 drugs to suicidal ideation.The drugs mentioned in these reports are liraglutide and semaglutide, the latter being the first A more efficient new generation Anti-obesity drugs (Ozempic is the brand name of semaglutide approved by the FDA to treat type 2 diabetes, and Wegovy is approved to treat obesity).
In response to these reports, the European Medicines Agency (the EU’s version of the Food and Drug Administration) announced that it would appoint members of its Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee to review these and other GLP-1 drugs. The latest PRAC meeting this week detailed the findings of the review, which are very reassuring.
“The PRAC concluded that the available evidence does not support the use of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1) (dulaglutide, exenatide, liraglutide, lixisenatide and semaglutide) and suicidal and self-harm thoughts and behaviors.”, the EMA announced in a statement freed Friday.
To reach these conclusions, the review authors analyzed case reports, data collected from drug manufacturers, and the results of one study A recent study Electronic health records (no link found between suicide and GLP-1 use). A separate analysis of health records by the EMA that looked specifically at people taking GLP-1 to treat type 2 diabetes also found no link at all.
The EMA investigation is the second recent investigation by the health regulator aimed at clearing links between GLP-1 drugs and suicide. In January, the F.D.A. report Its initial assessment found no evidence of increased risk of suicide.Some recent studies even suggest that GLP-1 drugs may have mental health benefits, such as one paper publish In February of this year, research found that using GLP-1 could reduce the incidence of anxiety and depression.
Of course, GLP-1 also has its drawbacks. For example, they often cause nausea and other gastrointestinal symptoms.They are also connected to other possible people Rare but serious complications Such as gastroparesis. As with every drug, not everyone who can benefit from taking the drug will respond or be able to tolerate the side effects.
The FDA said in January that it was still finalizing its findings. The EMA said on Friday that GLP-1 drugmakers will continue to monitor these and other data on potential complications and report any new findings as part of standard post-approval safety practice.