The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is investigating the diabetes drug Ozempic and weight loss treatment Saxenda of Novo Nordisk after Iceland’s health regulator flagged three cases of patients contemplating suicide or self-harm.
An EMA safety committee is looking into side effects reported by the Icelandic Medicines Agency, including two cases of suicidal thoughts in patients taking Ozempic, which is also used for weight loss and contains the active substance semaglutide.
Another patient taking Saxenda, de Novo’s weight-loss drug that contains the active ingredient liraglutide, has also reported thoughts of self-harm, the agency said.
Novo Nordisk has ensured that patient safety is its top priority and that it is reviewing all reports of adverse effects. Your security team has not yet established no “causal association” between self-harming thoughts and medications, they state in a statement.
The investigation into these drugs has been announced weeks after the regulator raised a safety alert for thyroid cancer in several of Novo’s products that contain semaglutide.