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\n Around half a million GLP-1 RA units were sold each month in Australia in 2024\u201325 \u2013 a 10-fold increase in five years.
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\n Feature<\/p>\n
\n Wegovy and Mounjaro are among the high-profile medicines with new product warnings, with the watchdog linking GLP-1 RAs to new side effects.
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\n Around half a million GLP-1 RA units were sold each month in Australia in 2024\u201325 \u2013 a 10-fold increase in five years.
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As of 23 September, the TGA\u2019s Database of Adverse Event Notifications includes 72 reports for suicidal ideation for the class of medications.
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\n The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has issued new safety warnings for several high-profile GLP-1 receptor agonists, linking the medications to serious side effects.
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\nOn Monday, the TGA updated the product warnings<\/a> for the \u2018relatively new and high-profile\u2019 class of medicines after they were linked to the potential risk of suicidal thoughts, with one also connected to reduced effectiveness of oral contraception.
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\nThe GLP-1 RAs currently marketed in Australia are:
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\n\tSemaglutide (sold as Ozempic and Wegovy)
\n\tLiraglutide (sold as Saxenda)
\n\tDulaglutide (Trulicity)
\n\tTirzepatide (sold as Mounjaro)
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\nThe medicines watchdog is now advising healthcare professionals to monitor patients for the emergence or worsening of depression, suicidal thoughts or behaviours, or any unusual changes in mood or behaviour.
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\n\u2018Consider the benefits and risks for individual patients before initiating or continuing therapy in patients with suicidal thoughts or behaviours,\u2019 it says.
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\nWhile an investigation found available evidence is not sufficient to support an association between GLP-1 RAs and suicidal or self-harming behaviours, it said product information and consumer medicines information documents across the class were \u2018inconsistent and should be harmonised\u2019.
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\n\u2018Updates should not imply a causal association, but reflect a class level awareness,\u2019 the TGA said.
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\nAn additional TGA investigation<\/a> into the potential for reduced effectiveness of oral contraception when first taking or increasing the dose of Mounjaro revealed an association \u2018could not be ruled out\u2019.
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\nIn response, and as a precautionary measure, product warnings for tirzepatide have also been updated to include further advice for patients using oral contraceptives.
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\n\u2018Patients taking tirzepatide are advised to switch to a non-oral contraceptive or add a barrier method of contraception for four weeks after first taking the medicine and for four weeks after each increase in the dose,\u2019 the TGA says.
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\n\u2018None of the GLP-1 RAs should be used during pregnancy\u00a0and individuals of childbearing potential are advised to use effective contraception during treatment with a GLP-1 RA.\u2019
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\nIt comes just weeks after a new study<\/a> found around half a million GLP-1 RA units were sold each month in Australia in 2024\u201325 \u2013 a 10-fold increase in five years.
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\n\u2018In the year May 2024\u2013April 2025, over six million units of GLP-1 RA were sold, predominantly semaglutide [63.3%] and tirzepatide [30.7%],\u2019 it found.
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\n\u2018In this period, GLP-1 RA use was estimated to cover 18 out of every 1000 Australians at a standard daily maintenance dose, with six out of every 1000 accessing these medicines privately.\u2019
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\nThe TGA\u2019s latest decision is in response to the United Kingdom\u2019s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency publishing guidance for GLP-1 medicines for weight loss and diabetes<\/a> earlier this year.
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\n\u2018We will continue to monitor the safety of GLP-1 RA medicines and will take appropriate regulatory action to address safety concerns when they are identified,\u2019 the TGA concluded.
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\nLog in below to join the conversation.<\/p>\n
\n Mounjaro<\/a> Ozempic<\/a> semaglutide<\/a> TGA<\/a> Therapeutic Goods Administration<\/a> tirzepatide<\/a> Wegovy<\/a>
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Wegovy and Mounjaro are among the high-profile medicines with new product warnings, with the watchdog…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[163,85,46,482],"class_list":["post-164497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-medication"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}