① According to an advanced trial data released on Friday, Novo Nordisk's diabetes drug Ozempic can slow the progression of chronic kidney disease in type 2 diabetics and can effectively reduce the risk of kidney failure, heart attack, stroke, and death; ② Ozempic is currently only approved to treat diabetes. Novo Nordisk is expected to apply in the US and the EU to expand the scope of treatment of this drug this year.
Finance Association, May 24 (Editor: Xia Junxiong) An advanced trial data released on Friday showed Novo Nordisk's diabetes drug Ozempic can slow the progression of chronic kidney disease in type 2 diabetics, and can effectively reduce the risk of kidney failure, heart attack, stroke, and death.
The data showed that compared with the placebo control group, patients taking Ozempic decreased significantly in renal function, the risk of major heart problems decreased by 18%, and the risk of death from any cause was reduced by 20%.
The European Kidney Association published the above data. The study was published in the “New England Journal of Medicine” and involved 3,533 patients with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.
Ozempic and Novo Nordisk's star weight loss drug Wegovy contain the same active ingredient, semaglutide (semaglutide), and belong to a class of drugs called GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1).
Novo Nordisk predicted the effects of Ozempic in treating chronic kidney disease as early as March of this year, and stated that the drug could reduce the overall risk of kidney complications and cardiovascular disease in diabetics by 24%.
Ozempic is currently only approved to treat diabetes, and Novo Nordisk is expected to apply in the US and EU this year to expand the scope of treatment with the drug.
Recent findings highlight the close links between kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, as well as the fatal consequences of the three diseases at the same time. The study was led by nephrologist Vlado Perkovic, dean of the University of South Wales in Sydney.
“The fact that simeglutide can improve all of these symptoms and prolong the lifespan of these people gives us hope,” Perkovic said.
Obesity is often the cause of a range of chronic diseases, which the American Heart Association refers to as cardio-renal metabolic syndrome.
“Heart disease causes kidney disease, kidney disease increases the risk of heart disease, and metabolic diseases also affect all of these diseases,” said Rahul Aggarwal, a cardiology researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
According to data from the American Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), nearly 200,000 people in the US developed chronic kidney disease due to type 2 diabetes in 2021. Since 19990, the incidence rate has doubled.