It is researchers at the University of Southern Denmark who i two different studies saw an association between treatment with Ozempic and the eye disease Naion among people with type 2 diabetes.
Naion is an injury that occurs when the blood supply to the optic nerve suddenly stops. Vision deteriorates slowly and there is currently no treatment for Naion.
In one study, researchers looked at data on all patients with type 2 diabetes in Denmark. The second study included both Danish and Norwegian patients treated with Ozempic or another drug.
Twice the risk
In both, the results indicated that those receiving Ozempic were twice as likely to develop Naion as those treated with other drugs
“Previously, we saw 60 to 70 cases of Naion a year, but now we see up to 150,” says Jakob Grauslund, professor of eye diseases and co-author of one study, in a comment on the University of Southern Denmark’s website.
The two registry studies were initiated after an American study previously pointed to the increased risk. The Danish Medicines Agency has now asked the European Medicines Agency to take a closer look at a possible connection.
Naion is very rare
But the researchers do not believe that patients should stop their treatment. Naion is very rare and based on the Danish results, the risk of being affected for those treated with Ozempic is around 0.2 parts per thousand per year.
Novo Nordisk, the company behind Ozempic, states that they have carried out their own evaluation of the studies but have not seen that updates to the risk profile are needed.