Source: Sina Finance

EU drug regulators have asked pharmaceutical companies, including Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, to provide more information to examine the potential risk of suicide associated with a new class of diet drugs.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) began investigating the issue in July, following reports that people taking such diet pills had suicidal thoughts and self-harm. The review focused mainly on so-called GLP-1 therapies, a category that includes Novo Nordisk's Wegovy diet needles and its diabetes drug Ozempic. These drugs are among the best-selling drugs in the pharmaceutical industry.

The EMA's safety committee said in a statement on Friday that it has reviewed all clinical trial evidence and published literature on the subject, adding: “Although it is not yet possible to draw conclusions about causality, there are still several issues that need to be clarified.”

The committee has agreed on a list of questions that drug manufacturers should further respond to, and said it will discuss the issue again at the April meeting.

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