GLP-1 drugs carry potential risk of rare eye disease NAION: FDA

Elaine’s stories explore the rise of new obesity treatments, new drug payment models, how businesses are affected by FDA changes, and the emerging psychedelic drug sector. She co-writes The Readout newsletter and co-hosts STAT’s weekly biotechnology podcast, The Readout Loud. You can reach Elaine on Signal at elaineywchen.70.

The Food and Drug Administration warned Monday that GLP-1 drugs carry a potential risk of rare but serious eye disease and asked pharmaceutical companies to inform patients and doctors about the risk.

This condition, called non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, or NAION, is sometimes called a “stroke” and is caused by insufficient blood flow to the optic nerve. This usually causes sudden loss of vision and, in severe cases, can lead to blindness. There is currently no proven treatment for this disease.

GLP-1 drugs such as Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound have exploded in popularity because of their powerful weight-loss effects, but as with any drug administered to large populations, side effects can emerge in real-world use that have not been observed in clinical trials.