Ozempic, similar weight-loss drugs don't increase suicide risk: EU regulator

By Steve Goldstein

A committee of the European Medicines Agency said Friday that a popular weight-loss drug doesn't increase the risk of suicide.

The EMA had been reviewing the so-called GLP-1 receptor agonists, including Ozempic and Wegovy from Novo Nordisk, since July 2023, following case reports of suicidal thoughts and thoughts of self-injury from people taking the drugs.

The committee said that it "has concluded that the available evidence does not support a causal association between the Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1) - dulaglutide, exenatide, liraglutide, lixisenatide and semaglutide - and suicidal and self-injurious thoughts and actions."

The committee also analysed the results of a recent study, based on a large database of electronic health records, that similarly did not find a link.

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly (LLY) shares both edged higher in early New York trade. Novo Nordisk (NVO) (DK:NOVO.B) is now the leading European stock by market capitalization, and Lilly is the largest pharma in the S&P 500 SPX, thanks to hopes for GLP-1 related sales.

-Steve Goldstein

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04-12-24 1021ET

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