People with a history of opioid abuse who took Novo Nordisk A/S’s Ozempic were less likely to overdose, a study has shown, adding to a growing body of evidence that it may help manage addiction.
Patients taking semaglutide, the main ingredient in Novo’s diabetes drug Ozempic, and the weight-loss injection Wegovy, were about half as likely to overdose as those taking insulin, according to the study. Studying The study was published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open. People who took semaglutide were 63% less likely to overdose than those who took DPP-4 inhibitors, a widely used type of diabetes pill.
He said the decline was noticeable. Rong Shuprofessor of biomedical informatics at Case Western Reserve University, who led the study. Her team had previously conducted linked Semaglutide results in a decrease in both: alcohol use disorder and smokingThis is the first time a study of this size has looked at opioid overdoses, Shaw said.
As powerful new weight-loss drugs become more widely available, interest is growing in whether they can curb not only appetite but also cravings for other substances. While drug companies have been reluctant to venture into this area, Novo is looking to alcohol consumption as part of its new program. trial Which started this year.
The Case Western study used medical records to create a database of patients with similar characteristics and tracked them for a year to see if they needed medical care for an overdose. The study included people with opioid use disorder, without adjusting for whether they were active addicts, Shaw said. All of the patients also had type 2 diabetes, and about two-thirds were obese.
The reduced risk with semaglutide was found to be true for most other types of diabetes drugs, including older drugs that work in a similar way to ozempic, with the exception of Eli Lilly’s Trulicity. The researchers did not compare Novo’s drugs with Lilly’s newer diabetes drug Mujaro.
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