By Maggie Fick
London: Britain’s health regulator said on Wednesday that the available data does not establish a link between a popular class of diabetes and obesity drugs, including Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, and suicidal thoughts.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) began a review of safety data for the class of drugs, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, more than a year ago after some patients reported suicidal or self-harming thoughts.
“We conclude that the available data does not support a causal association between GLP-1 receptor agonists and suicide, suicidal ideation, self-injury and depression, and therefore no updates to the product information is warranted at this time,” it said in a statement.
The UK review began weeks after similar action by the European Union. It included Wegovy and another Novo Nordisk drug, Ozempic, which contains the active ingredient semaglutide and is approved to treat Type 2 diabetes.
The EU drug regulator said in April that its own review had found no evidence that the class of medicines are linked to suicidal thoughts.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in January that its preliminary review had not found evidence that GLP-1 drugs were linked to suicidal thoughts, but that it will continue to study the issue. (Reporting by Maggie Fick in London and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Alexander Smith)
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