Wegovy is a drug originally used against diabetes. But its effects on weight loss are so popular that its use has changed over time. In the United States, it is marketed for purposes specifically related to the treatment of obesity. This will also be the case for China, with which Novo Nordisk (producer of Wegovy) has signed an agreement that approves treatments with this drug.appetite suppressant”.
It must be said that the world’s second largest economy will have 540 million overweight people in 2030, according to a Chinese public health study carried out in 2020 and relayed by Reuters. A larger number than the total American population (333.3 million people in 2022), which has almost half of its adults overweight. Let us recall that the USA is Novo Nordisk’s leading customer in terms of sales of Wegovy and its equally popular counterpart, Ozempic.
This drug that made Elon Musk lose 13 kilos, and caused Coca-Cola to fall on the stock market
Treating Obesity
Make no mistake, Wegovy is only effective for obese people, i.e. those with a body mass index greater than 30. It is not recommended for overweight people (BMI of 25 to 30). ). The implementation of this treatment in China therefore only concerns these people in principle, since the pharmaceutical group has claimed to target “initially Chinese patients ready to pay out of pocket for weekly injections”.
This “partnership” between China and the Danish group allowed Novo Nordisk to jump on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange yesterday during the day. Gaining more than 2%, the company’s shares exceeded the threshold of 1,000 Danish crowns (134 euros) for the first time, giving the pharmaceutical group a market valuation of more than 600 billion euros.
The start date of sales, the price of the drug and the quantities that the company plans to ship to China are not yet known. Note also that Novo Nordisk will have to face the rapid expiration of its patent on semaglutide (the basic molecule of Wegovy) in China, in less than two years.
