A European Union regulator will hold a follow-up meeting this week as it reviews anecdotal reports of users of popular diabetes and weight loss drugs — including Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic — saying they experienced suicidal thoughts after starting the medications.
The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee will discuss the probe this week, a meeting agenda revealed on Monday. The medications to be discussed include Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, Saxenda, and Wegovy, as well as Eli Lilly’s Trulicity.
These are all members of popular a class of drugs known as GLP-1s, which suppress a user’s appetite. Sales of these drugs have transformed Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk into the most valuable pharmaceutical companies in the world. Skyrocketing demand for Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Ozempic alone helped boost Denmark’s GDP in 2023.
Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
The EMA first launched its investigation last July after it received reports from Iceland of two Ozempic and Saxenda users reporting suicidal thoughts. In addition, a separate Saxenda user reported having thoughts of self-harm.
The EMA’s meeting comes months after a preliminary review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found no link between these medication to suicidal thoughts or actions.
Still, the American agency warned that it could not “definitively rule out that a small risk may exist” and said it would continue looking into the issue.
The FDA’s review followed a National Institutes Health-funded study which found that patients taking semaglutide — the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy — actually had a lower risk of suicidal thoughts than those who took other diabetes and anti-obesity medications.