Without reimbursement and within a restricted framework.
The Danish pharmaceutical laboratory Novo Nordisk announced on Tuesday October 8 the marketing in France of its blockbuster drug against obesity, Wegovy, more without refund at this stage and within a framework restricted by the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM).
The ANSM indicated in a separate press release “restrict the conditions of prescription and delivery of all aGLP-1 (the class of GLP-1 analogues) indicated in the treatment of obesity” by demanding that treatment initiation prescriptions are provided by specialists in endocrinology-diabetology-nutrition. On the other hand, renewals can be carried out by general practitioners.
Initially intended to fight type 2 diabetes, the treatment consists of a weekly subcutaneous injectionin increasing doses, specifies Health Insurance.
Also read:
Price, health risks: why the controversial Allurion balloon is withdrawn from the obesity treatment market
The agency also asks doctors to comply with the care pathway of the High Authority for Health, that is to say to “prescribe aGLP-1 indicated in the treatment of obesity to patients with an initial body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 35 kg/m2, aged less than 65 years”. This medicine should be used only as second intentionin the event of failure of nutritional support and in association with a low-calorie diet and physical activity, recalls the ANSM.
The launch comes amid an explosion in demand for a new generation of effective weight loss treatments: GLP-1 analogues, including Wegovy. This class of drugs mimics an intestinal hormone that stimulates insulin secretion and provides a feeling of fullness.
Also read:
Obesity: Narbonne hospital offers a multidisciplinary approach
In a message sent to AFP, the general director of the France subsidiary of Novo Nordisk, 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 active substance of Wegovy, semaglutideis the same as that of the antidiabetic Ozempic also manufactured by Novo Nordisk, but in obesity, it is used at higher dosages. Wegovy was authorized by the European Medicines Agency in early 2022 for the management of obesity in adults and since 2023 for adolescents over 12 years old..
As for the price, since it is not reimbursed by Social Security, you will have to pay “9 to 12 euros per day”according to the French subsidiary of Novo Nordisk, cited by France info. Either “between 270 and 330 euros per box.”
