Ozempic Slows Kidney Disease, Novo Nordisk Study Finds

By Dominic Chopping

Novo Nordisk's Ozempic drug slows the progression of chronic kidney disease and cuts the risk of kidney failure, heart attack, stroke and death in patients with type 2 diabetes, detailed results of a long-term trial showed Friday.

Headline results from the multiyear study of semaglutide, which is marketed as Ozempic to treat diabetes, were announced in March and showed the drug cuts the risk of kidney disease-related events in diabetic patients by 24%.

But detailed findings presented at a medical conference in Stockholm on Friday and published in the New England Journal of Medicine show that the rate of kidney function decline slowed significantly in patients who took semaglutide versus placebo, while the risk of a major heart problem fell by 18% and risk of death from any cause fell 20%.

Novo Nordisk said in October that it had stopped the trial early due to successful results. Ozempic is approved to treat diabetes but the company expects to file for a label expansion in the U.S. and EU this year.

Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 24, 2024 07:55 ET (11:55 GMT)

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