Obesity drug Wegovy is coming to more countries

Novo Nordisk will introduce obesity drug Wegovy in more countries, its CEO said on Friday (August 25). - REUTERS

Transcript

00:00 The obesity drug Wigovi is coming to more countries.

00:05 That's according to the head of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk.

00:08 But Lars Fruergaard-Jørgensen did not say where or when.

00:13 We are constrained on volumes now.

00:16 So it's not that we are in a massive launch mode.

00:23 We will be launching in more and more countries.

00:25 The demand for the medicine is so strong that we actually have to be more intentional in

00:30 how we actually get to the patients.

00:33 Wigovi leads to an average weight loss of about 15 percent when used with changes to

00:38 diet and exercise.

00:40 Earlier this month, a large-scale trial showed it also has a clear cardiovascular benefit.

00:46 That could bolster Novo's argument that U.S. insurers and health authorities should cover

00:50 the cost of the weekly injection for more patients.

00:54 It costs about $1,300 a month in the U.S.

00:58 Still, Jørgensen says it could take years before Novo can satisfy the global market.

01:03 Typically, when you launch medicines, you have a relative well-defined population that

01:10 you're going to serve.

01:13 You can schedule how you address that.

01:18 In the case of obesity, we're dealing with perhaps a billion patients around the world.