Popular weight-loss drug Wegovy goes on sale in China | EUROtoday

Novo Nordisk has launched its weight-loss drug Wegovy in China after it was authorized by native well being authorities in June.

It is about to accentuate competitors with rival Eli Lilly, whose well-liked weight-loss remedy additionally acquired the inexperienced mild months in the past however has but to go on sale on this planet’s second largest pharmaceutical market.

More than 180 million folks stay with weight problems in China.

According to Chinese enterprise information web site Yicai, a dose of 4 Wegovy injections will value 1,400 yuan (£153; $194), a fraction of the drug’s value within the United States.

Yicai’s report says sufferers in China should pay the total value for the remedy, because the drug has not been included within the nationwide healthcare insurance coverage.

Research means that Wegovy sufferers can lose greater than 10% of their physique weight.

In a put up on Chinese app, WeChat, Novo Nordisk mentioned its remedy “will provide a safe and effective weight loss option for overweight and obese patients in China”.

Aimed at people who find themselves severely chubby, Wegovy’s energetic ingredient is a medication known as semaglutide, which helps management blood sugar, lowers urge for food, and makes sufferers really feel fuller. It can also be the energetic ingredient in sister drug Ozempic, which is used to deal with kind 2 diabetes.

However, there might be unwanted side effects for some customers, akin to nausea and vomiting, and analysis exhibits that sufferers usually put weight again on after stopping remedy.

Wegovy went on sale within the US in 2021 the place a month’s provide at present prices $1,349.

Fuelled by a social media buzz and celeb customers together with Elon Musk, the drug has since been flying off pharmacy cabinets all over the world.

The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare merchandise Regulatory Agency has requested medical doctors to be alert for sufferers who could also be misusing weight problems injections, akin to Wegovy.

It adopted studies that some individuals who weren’t overweight grew to become sick, after utilizing the jabs for weight reduction.

Wegovy’s reputation has turned its maker, Novo Nordisk, into Europe’s most respected firm. It at present has a complete market worth of of greater than $440bn.