Semaglu­tide as­so­ci­at­ed with low­er risk of sui­ci­dal ideations com­pared to non-GLP-1 drugs: NIH-fund­ed study

The block­buster type 2 di­a­betes and obe­si­ty drug semaglu­tide was as­so­ci­at­ed with a low­er risk of sui­ci­dal ideation com­pared to oth­er obe­si­ty and type 2 di­a­betes drugs, ac­cord­ing to an NIH-fund­ed study pub­lished Fri­day.

The study, pub­lished in Na­ture Med­i­cine, found that semaglu­tide, which tar­gets glucagon-like pep­tide 1 (GLP-1) re­cep­tors, was as­so­ci­at­ed with a 49% to 73% low­er risk of first-time or re­cur­ring sui­ci­dal ideations com­pared to oth­er drugs for obe­si­ty and di­a­betes that work through dif­fer­ent mech­a­nisms. The study comes af­ter re­port­ed cas­es of sui­ci­dal thoughts and self harm in pa­tients tak­ing semaglu­tide in re­cent months, which raised flags for the FDA and the Eu­ro­pean Med­i­cines Agency.

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.

SIGN UP LOG IN BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER