Trenton, NJ — U.S. regulators on Tuesday approved a new diabetes drug that reduces blood sugar levels and also helps people lose significant weight.
Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk said the Food and Drug Administration approved its once-a-week shot for people with Type 2 diabetes.
The drug, Ozempic, also known as semaglutide, works by stimulating the body’s own insulin production and reducing appetite.
It also helped study participants lose two to three times as much weight as those in the comparison group.
In one big company-funded study, Ozempic, on average, reduced long-term blood sugar levels at least 2 ½ times as much as a popular daily diabetes pill, Merck & Co.’s Januvia.
Over 56 weeks, patients who got a lower dose of Ozempic lost an average of 9.5 pounds while those who got a higher dose lost 13.5 pounds.
The patients who took Januvia lost an average of 4 pounds.