Pharmalittle: Sunharbo stroke drug, eye warning on GLP-1s

Top of the morning to you and a fine one it is. Blue skies, cool breezes, and plenty of chirping birds are enveloping the comfy Pharmalot campus, which is cause to fire up the coffee kettle for yet another cup of stimulation. Our choice today is pistachio. Meanwhile, we have assembled the latest menu of tidbits for you to peruse. We hope you have a wonderful day and please do keep in touch. Once again, we will note that our settings have changed to accept postcards and telegrams …

The Food and Drug Administration approved a Bayer drug to reduce recurrence of stroke, making available the first in a novel class of medications that hold the promise of preventing blood clots more safely, STAT notes. Many blood thinners are not used in this setting due to the increased risk of bleeding, but the drug, which will be sold under the brand name Sunharbo, uses a mechanism that is thought to stop the formation of bad clots without increasing the risk of bleeding. Experts say the data showed a significant advance in an area that has seen little innovation over the past few decades. Secondary strokes are estimated to affect about 20% of people who have had a first stroke and can cause severe disability or death.

The FDA warned that GLP-1 drugs carry a potential risk for a rare but serious eye condition and required pharmaceutical companies to inform patients and doctors of the risk, STAT writes. The condition, called non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, or NAION, is sometimes referred to as an “eye stroke” and is caused by insufficient blood flow to the optic nerve. It typically causes sudden vision loss and, in severe cases, can lead to blindness. There are currently no proven treatments for the condition. The FDA said it started looking into this risk after researchers in 2024 published an observational study linking Ozempic and Wegovy to the eye condition.

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