The Danish pharmaceutical laboratory Novo Nordisk announced on Tuesday October 8 the marketing in France of its flagship drug against obesity, Wegovy. Who can benefit from it? At what price? What are its effects and for what result? We explain everything to you in four essential points.
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Already marketed in 15 countries, Wegovy, the flagship drug from the Danish laboratory Novo Nordisk, is now available in French pharmacies. In addition to the expectation and hope that this new treatment arouses for the 8 million French people suffering from obesity, it is also the promise of new jobs for the Centre-Val de Loire region where Novo Nordisk has its only European factory.
In November 2023, during Emmanuel Macron’s visit to its premises in Chartres in Eure-et-Loir, the pharmaceutical giant specializing in treatments for diabetics, announced investing 2.1 billion euros to double the size of its factory. within 5 years. A colossal investment which will allow it to increase its production of injectable pens and insulin. Étienne Tichit, the general manager of the France subsidiary of Novo Nordisk, also affirms that the company will “do everything to be able to produce this medicine in France”in the extension of this “gigafactory” with the result for the department of Eure-et-Loir, the creation of 500 new jobs.
This launch comes against a backdrop of exploding demand for a new generation of effective treatments for weight loss: GLP-1 analogues. This class of drugs mimics an intestinal hormone that stimulates insulin secretion, slows intestinal emptying and provides a feeling of fullness.
Among them, we already found Saxenda, also produced by Novo Nordisk and authorized in France since 2015. And Mounjaro from the American laboratory Lilly (not yet arrived in France). Both use two different molecules for the same effect: liraglutide for one and tirzepatide for the other.
In Wegovy, the molecule, semaglutide, is the same as that of the antidiabetic Ozempic also manufactured by Novo Nordisk. But in obesity, it is used at higher dosages and only requires one subcutaneous injection per week compared to one per day for its cousin Saxenda.
In a message sent to AFP, Etienne Tichit, expresses “the pride of having reopened the path of research in the complex and relapsing chronic disease that is obesity”. Il “hopes that this arrival will allow many French patients to enter a care pathway including a low-calorie diet and increased physical activity which remains essential”.
The use of the drug would allow a reduction in “20% of cardiovascular risk” and weight loss“between 15 and 17%”says the French general manager of Novo Nordisk. The National Medicines Agency announces a loss of 12% after 68 weeks of treatment.
Like all GLP1 analogues, the High Authority of Health (HAS) requires that Wegovy be prescribed only to patients under the age of 65 with an initial body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 35.
This medication should only be used as a second line, in the event of failure of nutritional support and in combination with a low-calorie diet and physical activity, the ANSM also recalls.
In addition, it can only be prescribed as first intention by specialists in endocrinology-diabetology-nutrition. On the other hand, renewals can be carried out by general practitioners.
The medication, which comes in the form of pre-filled injector pens, is available in pharmacies with a prescription and is not reimbursed by social security. The price is around 300 euros per month, but “the margins of wholesalers and pharmacists are free for medicines not reimbursed by Social Security, so it is an indicative price”recalls Étienne Tichit.
“We want to have support for a category of patients who will be in greatest medical demand for treatment”explains on franceinfo the French general manager of Novo Nordisk., who argues that Wegovy’s objective “It’s not just about losing weight, it’s also about cardiovascular survival.”
