The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Ozempic for the treatment of patients with chronic kidney disease, marking a new milestone for Novo Nordisk’s highly popular drug, previously authorized for type 2 diabetes and weight loss.
Key Facts
- The FDA approval allows Ozempic to be used to reduce the risk of kidney disease progression, kidney failure, and death from cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.
- The approval is based on a late-stage trial involving more than 3,500 participants, which showed that Ozempic lowered the risk of kidney disease progression and death from kidney or cardiovascular complications by 24% compared to a placebo.
- Patients using Ozempic also experienced slower rates of kidney decline, according to Novo Nordisk.
In December 2024, the European Union’s health regulators also gave the go-ahead for Novo Nordisk to expand Ozempic’s label, indicating that the drug could reduce the risk of chronic kidney disease-related events in adults with type 2 diabetes.
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Surprising Fact
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that one in every three adults with diabetes suffers from chronic kidney disease. Diabetes, both type 1 and type 2, can impair kidney function due to its effects on the kidneys’ ability to filter waste, compounded by the high blood pressure that often accompanies the condition.
What Has Ozempic Been Approved For?
Ozempic has already been approved by the FDA for type 2 diabetes management, and it’s also widely used off-label for weight loss. Additionally, the FDA authorized Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy—which contains the same active ingredient, semaglutide—for weight loss and lowering the risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and strokes.
Key Background
Ozempic and Wegovy are part of the GLP-1 agonist class of medications, which mimic the function of a gut hormone responsible for regulating blood sugar and appetite. Research into the broader benefits of these drugs has been growing. For example, Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, a competitor, was recently approved for treating obesity and sleep apnea, after it was shown to significantly reduce apnea events in a clinical trial.
Other studies suggest GLP-1 drugs might also have potential applications in treating alcohol use disorder and improving mood, cognitive function, and symptoms in patients with conditions like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, dementia, bipolar disorder, and anxiety.
