Ozempic could be linked to a common cause of sudden blindness, study finds

Novo Nordisk’s (NVO-1.86%) blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic may have a potential hyperlink with an peep condition that causes imaginative and prescient loss, according to a non-peer reviewed study published Thursday on medRxiv.

Diabetes patients the usage of Ozempic were came upon to be over twice as probably to earn a rare peep condition identified as NAION compared to those taking other diabetes medications, according to researchers who analyzed years of patient data from Denmark and Norway.

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Composed, the study obvious that the overall incidence of the condition was exceptionally low, with moral 1.4 additional cases per 10,000 patient-years of observation — calculated as the number of patients multiplied by the years they were monitored — among those taking Ozempic compared to customers of other diabetes medications.

If the threat remains constant over time, a form 2 diabetes patient taking Ozempic for 20 years would face a 0.3% to 0.5% chance of developing NAION, according to the study.

The findings for Wegovy — the company’s weight-loss drug that shares the same active ingredient as Ozempic — were inconclusive due to an inadequate number of patients in the analysis. Wegovy didn’t launch in Denmark till 2022 and in Norway till 2023.

NAION is a condition by which blood drift in the optic nerve — a bundle of nerve fibers that connects the back of the peep to the brain — is diminished leading to sudden and irreversible blindness. The condition is the most common optic nerve disease in the United States, affecting up to 10 out of 100,000 older Americans every year, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Novo Nordisk did no longer immediately respond to a inquire of for comment from Quartz.

This study follows another one from earlier this year that also came upon a hyperlink between semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, and NAION.

“Given the effectively-established outcomes of semaglutide in managing both diabetes and obesity, it’s miles crucial to weigh the potential threat of NAION against the substantial therapeutic benefits of semaglutide,” the researchers wrote.