Wait, Why Is Novo Selling Weight Loss Drugs for So Cheap in China?

Danish pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk has launched its mega-popular weight reduction drug Wegovy in China — and it is charging only a tiny fraction of what the blockbuster drug prices within the US.

Because the Wall Street Journal reports, the drug will first be issued at a public hospital in Shanghai this week for the value of $193 per one-month provide. That is a staggering low cost over the virtually $1,350 American clients are shelling out for the very same factor.

And that is regardless of the drug not being coated by China’s nationwide medical health insurance program.

The information highlights simply how damaged the pharmaceutical business is within the US, with corporations openly ripping off the American individuals for many years now, just because they’ll get away with it. With a fractured industrial medical health insurance system, perverse incentives for drug makers, and no comprehensive price controls in place, prescription drugs typically promote the very same prescribed drugs with a hefty markup within the US in comparison with overseas.

Throughout a Senate listening to earlier this yr, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders tore into Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Jørgensen over the difficulty, calling out the company for “company greed.”

“Novo Nordisk has developed game-changing medication which, if made inexpensive, can save the lives of tens of hundreds of People yearly and considerably enhance the standard of lifetime of hundreds of thousands extra,” Sanders thundered. “If not made inexpensive, People all through this nation will needlessly die and endure.”

Wegovy was first accredited by Chinese language regulators in June. Researchers have famous that obese and weight problems have develop into a critical public well being drawback within the nation, significantly amongst kids. Virtually every third child in China was deemed obese again in 2022, and indicators level towards the development accelerating within the coming years. And greater than half of Chinese language adults at the moment are obese or overweight, in line with a 2021 study.

Now that glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist (GLP-1) medication similar to Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Ozempic — each of which include the identical energetic ingredient known as semaglutide — have shot up in reputation, the nation might have an efficient resolution on its arms.

Scientists have discovered that past permitting sufferers to shed weight, semaglutide appears to produce other strikingly constructive results, similar to treating arthritis, cutting heart disease, and seemingly even making developing Alzheimer’s less likely.

And most tasty of all, it is extra accessible from a worth level perspective in China. Even taking decrease common incomes into consideration, the price of the drug is a number of instances cheaper than what it is being offered for within the US.

Even in Canada, the drug is being offered for just under $300 for a month’s provide, lower than a 3rd of the US worth.

That sort of prohibitive pricing might show a serious drawback within the US. The nation has a protracted monitor file of combating weight problems; in accordance to the Centers for Disease Control, round 40 % of US adults are at the moment overweight.

However having access to a doubtlessly life-saving drug like Wegovy might show lots tougher, significantly because of insurance coverage causes. At a whopping $1,350, the injections are out of attain for a lot of People.

Extra on weight reduction medication: Mounjaro Appears to Be Extremely Effective at Preventing Diabetes