By India Edwards HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 29, 2025 (HealthDay News) — A popular diabetes drug just got a major new approval — and it could be a game-changer for millions of Americans at risk for kidney failure.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has officially approved Ozempic to help reduce the risk of serious kidney complications in people with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.
Type 2 diabetes is a leading cause of chronic kidney disease, which affects more than 1 in 7 U.S. adults. The new approval allows doctors to prescribe Ozempic specifically to lower the risk of kidney failure, dialysis and death from heart-related problems in these high-risk patients.
“Over the last 20 years, it’s been an area where researchers tried hard but delivered very little,” Dr. Stephen Gough, senior vice president of global medical affairs at Novo Nordisk, the company that makes Ozempic, told The New York Times. “To have something new like this is really exciting, and offers promise to patients.”
Doctors already use Ozempic to manage type 2 diabetes and reduce the risk of heart disease in patients with diabetes. This move, as reported by The Times, was based on research showing that people with both type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease who took Ozempic had a 24% lower risk of kidney-related complications, such as needing dialysis or an organ transplant.
Patients in the study also had slower rates of kidney decline and were less likely to die from heart problems.
“The more we can delay the decline in kidney function, the better,” Dr. Melanie Hoenig, a kidney specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, told The Times.
Ozempic is often referred to as a “weight loss” drug, but it is not officially approved for that purpose. It is mainly used to control blood sugar, but researchers suspect the drug may also reduce inflammation in the kidneys and throughout the body.
Doctors often prescribe medications to lower blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol to help protect the kidneys, but treatment options are still limited.
With Ozempic’s approval for kidney disease, though, demand for the drug is expected to grow, and Novo Nordisk has already struggled to keep up.
What’s more, the FDA lists semaglutide, the compound in Ozempic and the weight loss drug Wegovy, as currently in shortage.
“Many people, unfortunately, cannot get it,” Hoenig told The Times. “But if they can and it works for them, and they can tolerate it, it’s a wonderful thing to have more tools.”
More information
Learn more about Ozempic on the company website.
SOURCES: The New York Times, media report, Jan. 28, 2025: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, drug shortage database
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