FDA Approves Ozempic to Treat Kidney Disease

Mar. 15, 2025

Ozempic.Photo:Mario Tama/Getty

Mario Tama/Getty

The Food and Drug Administration has approved Ozempic to reduce the risk of kidney disease.

On Tuesday, Jan. 28, the agency announced that the drug can now be used to reduce the risk of kidney failure and disease progression, as well as death due to cardiovascular disease, in adults with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.

The FDA’s new approval makes the drug the first GLP-1 treatment option for people with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.

“Chronic kidney disease is very serious and common in patients living with type 2 diabetes and represents a critical need for adults living with these comorbidities,” said Anna Windle — senior vice president of clinical development, medical & regulatory affairs for Novo Nordisk, maker of Ozempic — in apress release. “This approval for Ozempic allows us to more broadly address conditions within cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome, which affects millions of adults and could have serious consequences if left untreated.”

Ozempic injector.Getty

Getty

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“From my point of view as a doctor, you don’t get [diabetes, obesity, chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease] in isolation,” Stephen Gough, Novo Nordisk’s global chief medical officer, toldCNBC. “These illnesses, unfortunately, co-segregate. They cluster within the same individuals. So if you have a medicine that can target each of these co-morbidities in one injection, then you’re addressing what really matters to the patient.”

source: people.com