Novo Nordisk's Ozempic slows diabetic kidney disease progression in
trial
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[May 24, 2024]
By Nancy Lapid
(Reuters) - Novo Nordisk's Ozempic slowed the worsening of kidney
dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes and lowered the risk of
kidney failure, heart problems, stroke and death, according to detailed
results from a late-stage trial presented on Friday.
The company in March reported that the diabetes drug known chemically as
semaglutide cut the combined risk of kidney complications and
cardiovascular events by 24% over the next 3.4 years in patients who
received weekly 1-milligram injections compared with those who got a
placebo.
The benefits observed in the trial "reflect important clinical effects
on kidney, cardiovascular, and survival outcomes among high-risk
patients ... and support a therapeutic role for semaglutide in this
population," study leader Dr. Vlado Perkovic of the University of New
South Wales in Sydney, Australia said in a statement.
The more detailed data on the trial of 3,533 patients with type 2
diabetes and chronic kidney disease was presented at the European Renal
Association meeting in Stockholm and published in the New England
Journal of Medicine.
Kidney health declined significantly faster in patients who received a
placebo than in those who received Ozempic, as shown by a measure known
as the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), researchers found.
The trial was stopped early when an independent monitoring committee
reviewed the data and determined the benefits of Ozempic were clear, the
researchers said.
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Ozempic belongs to a class of drugs
known as GLP-1 receptor agonists and has the same active ingredient
as Novo Nordisk's wildly popular obesity drug Wegovy.
Obesity was not a requirement for participation in the current
trial. But Novo and rival Eli Lilly are hoping to gain wider
insurance coverage for their weight-loss drugs by demonstrating
their other medical benefits.
Reductions in risk were similar when looking only at kidney-related
events, such as starting dialysis, undergoing kidney transplantation
or experiencing a precipitous decline in kidney function,
researchers said.
Patients in the Ozempic group had an 18% lower risk of major adverse
heart events and a 20% lower risk of death from any cause, the
researchers said.
Withdrawal from the study mostly due to gastrointestinal issues were
13.2% in the Ozempic group versus 11.9% for placebo.
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid; editing by Michele Gershberg and Bill
Berkrot)
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