Semaglutide subanalysis finds increased retinopathy worsening
Dr. Albert and colleagues conducted a separate subanalysis of 11 studies of semaglutide that enrolled 11,894 patients, of which 6 studies (n = 5,610) were of oral semaglutide (Rybelsus) and 5 studies were of subcutaneous semaglutide (Ozempic; n = 6,284).
In the subanalysis, there was an overall increase in relative rates of new or worsening retinopathy (RR, 1.218; P = .049).
The change in relative rate of retinopathy was predominantly found for subcutaneous semaglutide given for longer than 1 year (RR, 1.559; P = .022) and decreases in A1c of more than 1.0% (RR, 1.590; P = .016). No such differences were seen with oral semaglutide.
A further evaluation of the data without the SUSTAIN 6 trial showed no effect on retinopathy but the analysis lacked power.
Dr. Albert told this news organization: “We did not find an immediate toxic effect of any drug. However, we cannot rule out that there was a cumulative effect of the dose over longer times.”
No disclosures were given.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.