{"id":42263,"date":"2023-07-30T11:06:10","date_gmt":"2023-07-30T15:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/uncategorized\/novo-nordisk-weight-loss-drug-wegovy-launched-in-germany-first-big-eu-market\/"},"modified":"2023-07-30T11:06:12","modified_gmt":"2023-07-30T15:06:12","slug":"novo-nordisk-weight-loss-drug-wegovy-launched-in-germany-first-big-eu-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=42263","title":{"rendered":"Novo Nordisk weight-loss drug Wegovy launched in Germany, first big EU market"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00a9 Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Danish multinational pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is pictured on the facade of a production plant in Chartres, north-central France, April 21, 2016. REUTERS\/Guillaume Souvant\/File Photo<\/span>
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By Ludwig Burger and Maggie Fick<\/p>\n

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Novo Nordisk (NYSE:) has launched blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy in Germany, its first big European market, hoping Germans will pay hundreds of euros out of pocket for a drug that public health insurance plans are so far barred from covering.<\/p>\n

The drug, shown to help patients reduce body weight by around 15% when used along with exercise and lifestyle changes, is already available in the United States, but in Europe is so far on sale only in small markets Norway and Denmark.<\/p>\n

“The first patients have redeemed prescriptions in Germany,” a spokesperson for Novo confirmed on Saturday to Reuters, in line with previously announced plans to launch the drug there at the end of July.<\/p>\n

The Danish drugmaker’s share price has more than doubled in the two years since the drug debuted, turning Novo into Europe’s second-most-valuable listed company after LVMH.<\/p>\n

Doctors and patients in Germany have told Reuters they anticipate high demand for the weekly injections, with many patients prepared to take on the cost, starting at 170 euros ($190) a month and rising to more than 300 euros as treatment requires the dosage to increase.<\/p>\n

Public health insurance plans, which cover about 90% of Germans, will not foot the bill, under a decades old law that bars them from covering weight-loss drugs.<\/p>\n

For the 10% of Germans with private health insurance, coverage will vary. Among major providers, Allianz (ETR:) says it will pay if a physician diagnoses a medical need, while Debeka said its plans exclude weight-loss treatments.<\/p>\n

Patient advocates and physicians have welcomed the arrival of Wegovy in Germany, where 18.5% of adults are obese, above the European Union average of 16%. <\/p>\n

The Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s state public health agency, says diseases linked to excess body weight pose a considerable burden on health and social security systems. <\/p>\n

Novo is ramping up production to meet soaring demand in the United States, where the drug sells for as much as $1,350 a month. It says it will closely monitor prescriptions in Germany to ensure access for people with obesity, but it cannot not rule out supply delays.<\/p>\n

In Germany, Wegovy will be administered with the same injection pen used in Norway and Denmark, different from the one used in the United States, to avoid hitting supplies there.<\/p>\n

Wegovy’s introduction in Germany will stir debate in a nation where the health care system has often treated obesity as a lifestyle choice rather than a chronic disease. <\/p>\n

Doctors say many Germans seeking to lose weight have already used Ozempic, a diabetes drug also made by Novo that is a lower dose version of the same ingredient as Wegovy.<\/p>\n

Physicians have worried that supplies would be strained by non-obese people seeking “vanity” prescriptions – a concern reflected in a Novo statement in mid-July saying physicians should “prescribe responsibly”.<\/p>\n

($1 = 0.8984 euros) <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a9 Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Danish multinational pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is pictured on the facade of a production plant in Chartres, north-central France, April 21, 2016. REUTERS\/Guillaume Souvant\/File Photo By Ludwig Burger and Maggie Fick FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Novo Nordisk (NYSE:) has launched blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy in Germany, its first big […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[83],"class_list":["post-42263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-featured","post_format-post-format-video"],"yoast_head":"\nNovo Nordisk weight-loss drug Wegovy launched in Germany, first big EU market | iFintechWorld<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u00a9 Reuters. 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