EU regulator rules out link between weight-loss drugs and suicidal thoughts
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(Reuters) The European Union drug regulator found no evidence that a class of diabetes and weight-loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk’s hugely popular Wegovy, are linked to suicidal thoughts, it said on Friday, ending a nine-month probe.

The regulator’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee, which monitors drugs’ side effects, said that no updates were required to the treatments’ product information after reviewing the available evidence.

Shares of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk rose more than 2% after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) released its findings. Novo said it will continue to monitor any reports of adverse drug reactions, including suicide and suicidal thoughts.

The finding comes after EMA extended in December its review into the class of weight-loss and diabetes drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, to get more data from drugmakers to further investigate the issue.

The analysis started in July after Iceland’s health regulator flagged three cases of patients thinking about suicide or self-harm after using Novo’s drugs.

The review focused on medicines that contain either semaglutide or liraglutide, both GLP-1 targeting compounds. Liraglutide is the active ingredient in Novo’s weight-loss treatment Saxenda while semaglutide is the active ingredient in Wegovy and top-selling diabetes treatment Ozempic.