This October 8, the Danish laboratory Novo Nordisk is putting its flagship anti-obesity drug called Wegovy on the French market. A medicine sometimes diverted from its indication in certain countries such as the United States where personalities say they use it to lose a few extra pounds. To prevent the risk of abuse, the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products has put in place restrictions.
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Wegovy belongs to a new generation of drugs called GLP-1 analogues. They mimic an intestinal hormone which stimulates insulin secretion and acts in the brain on the feeling of satiety. Marketed in particular to UNITED STATESand in several European countries, Wegovy is arriving in French pharmacies.
The treatment, at a price of around 300 euros per month, can only be delivered on prescription and is not reimbursed by Health Insurance. The National Medicines Safety Agency has set the framework: Wegovy is reserved for patients who are severely or massively obese, aged under 65, and in whom usual care has failed.
The medication should be used in combination with a low-calorie diet and physical activity. Furthermore, the first prescription can only be made by a doctor specializing in endocrinology, diabetology or nutrition; the drug policeman wants to prevent Wegovy from being diverted for aesthetic purposes, and reminds that these misuses can lead to sometimes serious adverse effects.
A higher dosage antidiabetic
Up to 10,000 obese patients had access to Wegovy ahead of time in Franceaccording to the manufacturer, as part of early access which allows you to benefit from innovative treatments more than a year before their official marketing.
This access authorized between July 2022 and September 2023 allowed them to have free use until the end of October 2024. The laboratory will extend this measure “ until the end of January 2025 » so as to “ do not leave unsolved » the approximately 7,000 patients still under treatment.
The active substance of the drug, semaglutide, is the same as that of the antidiabetic Ozempic also manufactured by Novo Nordisk, but in obesity it is used in higher dosages. These two products made the fortune of the Danish laboratory. The largest European capitalization is investing billions to boost its global production.
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