The European Medicines Agency has stated that its committee has approved broadening the use of Novo Nordisk’s weight reduction medicine among teenagers aged 12 and up.
A spokesperson for the pharmaceutical giant told Reuters on March 31 that the favourable opinion from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) was a “important acknowledgement of the unmet medical need among teenagers living with obesity and the need for additional treatment alternatives.”
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Wegovy, a medication from Novo Nordisk for adults with obesity, stimulates GLP-1, a hormone that causes the body to feel full after eating. Wegovy is authorised for the treatment of adult obesity in the United Kingdom, European Union and the USA.
Novo Nordisk have not provided a timetable for launching the medicine for teenagers aged 12 and up.
After the FDA’s approval of the medicine for teenagers teenagers aged 12 and up in December, the American Academy of Pediatrics advised the use of weight-loss drugs in children aged 12 and older earlier this year.
While this move has been widely praised, some critics have argued that weight loss drugs are not a substitute for a healthy lifestyle and therefore require cautious use.
In particular, because medications such as semaglutide have demonstrated adverse side effects.
