A box of Ozempic by Novo Nordisk is seen in a pharmacy in London, United Kingdom on March 8, 2024.
Hollie Adams | Reuters
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Good morning! Novo NordiskChina's successful diabetes drug Ozempic may have more to offer than just regulating blood sugar and promoting weight loss.
This is according to a new analysis from the University of Oxford published last week, which found that Ozempic can reduce the risk of dementia and a range of other mental health problems compared to other existing treatments for patients with diabetes. In addition, the researchers found that Ozempic reduced nicotine dependence in these patients.
These findings add to the long list of potential health benefits of Ozempic and other hugely popular GLP-1 treatments, such as Novo Nordisk's weight-loss injectable Wegovy and drugs from competitor Eli Lilly.
Large clinical trials have already shown that semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, can reduce the risk of serious cardiovascular complications and kidney disease. Other studies are studying GLP-1 in patients with sleep apnea and fatty liver disease, as well as other conditions, and whether the drugs can curb addictive behaviors such as alcohol consumption and even gambling.
Now let's take a look at the data from the new analysis, published Thursday in the Lancet's journal eClinicalMedicine.
The study relied on medical records of more than 100,000 U.S. diabetes patients, including more than 20,000 who were prescribed semaglutide between December 2017 and May 2021.
The researchers compared semaglutide with three other diabetes treatments: Merck's Januvia or sitagliptin; PfizerGlucotrol or glipizide; and Eli Lilly and Jardiance or empagliflozin from Boehringer Ingelheim. They compared the risks of 22 neurological and psychiatric outcomes within one year of treatment with the various diabetes medications.
Overall, according to the researchers, Ozempic was associated with a lower risk of cognitive problems and nicotine dependence.
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After one year, patients taking Ozempic had a 48% lower risk of developing dementia than patients taking Januvia. The risk in Ozempic patients was also 37% lower than in patients taking Glucotrol and 9% lower than in patients taking Jardiance.
In particular, previous studies have shown that patients with diabetes are at higher risk of developing dementia.
Patients taking Ozempic also had an 18% reduction in nicotine dependence compared to patients taking Januvia. Nicotine dependence was also 28% lower in Ozempic patients compared to patients taking Glucotrol and 23% lower in patients taking Jardiance.
“Our findings suggest that the use of semaglutide could extend beyond the treatment of diabetes and may offer unexpected benefits in the treatment and prevention of cognitive decline and substance abuse,” Dr. Riccardo De Giorgi, clinical lecturer at the University of Oxford and lead author of the study, said in a statement.
However, the authors stressed that the analysis was an observational study and the results would need to be reproduced in a controlled trial in which patients are randomly assigned to take Ozempic and the other drugs, said Dr. Max Taquet, another clinical lecturer at Oxford and lead study author.
We will continue to monitor future research in this area, so stay tuned for our coverage.
Feel free to send tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Annika at annikakim.constantino@nbcuni.com.
Latest technology in healthcare
UnitedHealth Group beats earnings forecast, predicts greater damage from Change Healthcare cyberattack
Omar Marques | Light rocket | Getty Images
UnitedHealth GroupThe problems with cyber attacks are not over yet.
The healthcare giant reported second-quarter results on Tuesday that beat analysts' estimates on revenue and profit, but raised its forecast on the expected per-share impact of the cyberattack on Change Healthcare.
UnitedHealth reported revenue of $98.86 billion for the quarter, narrowly beating the $98.84 billion expected by analysts, according to LSEG. The company's adjusted earnings per share for the period were $6.80, while Wall Street had expected $6.66 per share.
UnitedHealth reiterated its adjusted full-year earnings guidance of $27.50 to $28; however, it reported an estimated impact of the business disruption of 60 cents to 70 cents per share, up from 30 cents to 40 cents per share last quarter. UnitedHealth said the impact of the business disruption includes lost revenue and “the cost of maintaining full operational readiness” of Change Healthcare's affected services.
UnitedHealth shares rose about 3% on Tuesday morning.
Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth, offers payment and revenue cycle management tools. According to the company's website, it processes over 15 billion billing transactions annually and one in three patient records passes through its systems.
In February, UnitedHealth discovered that a cybercriminal had hacked part of Change Healthcare's IT network. The company isolated and disconnected the affected systems “immediately after discovering” the threat, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The disruption had serious consequences for the entire U.S. health care system, as many doctors were temporarily unable to fill prescriptions or get paid for their services, and some providers had to dip thousands of dollars into their personal savings to make ends meet.
In May, UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty announced that the company had paid attackers a $22 million ransom to prevent them from releasing patients' personal health information. He estimated that the breach could affect up to a third of all Americans.
UnitedHealth announced Tuesday that it had restored “the majority” of Change Healthcare's services, according to its earnings release. The company also said it had provided more than $9 billion in advances to providers in need, the release said.
You can read UnitedHealth’s full earnings report here.
Feel free to send tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Ashley at ashley.capoot@nbcuni.com.
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