“Weight loss miracle drug” enters the Asian market. Novo Nordisk will launch Wegovy in Japan in February next year

On Thursday (November 23) local time, Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk announced that it will launch its popular weight loss drug Wegovy in Japan on February 22 next year.This will be the first time Novo Nordisk launches Wegovy in the Asian market. As Wegovy faces supply shortages, Novo Nordisk has chosen Japan as the sixth country to launch Wegovy. So far, Novo Nordisk has only launched Wegovy in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Norway and its home market of Denmark.

Novo Nordisk said most patients in Japan will pay 30% of their medical costs for Wegovy, in line with reimbursement for other drugs. The company is lobbying some governments to pay for Wegovy for the most overweight patients.

Wegovy is available in five different dosages, ranging from low to high: 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, 1.0 mg, 1.7 mg and 2.4 mg.

According to Novo Nordisk, 0.25 mg of Wegovy costs 7,504 yen (approximately $50.17) per month, and 2.4 mg of Wegovy costs 42,960 yen (approximately $287.23) per month.

Japan has one of the lowest obesity rates in the world. According to data from the Global Obesity Observatory, in 2019, about 4.5% of adults in Japan met the obesity standard, that is, reaching a BMI of 30 or above.

The World Health Organization uses body mass index (BMI) to assess the degree of "obesity". A BMI over 25 is overweight, and a BMI over 30 is obese. It should be noted that the BMI standard is mainly based on European and American data and cannot be fully applied to East Asians.

Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Mounjaro are two of the hottest weight loss drugs currently on the market. They are both new drugs in the class of GLP-1 receptor agonists.

Due to strong market demand, Wegovy faced a supply shortage, leading Novo Nordisk to limit the number of countries in which it is available and the number of patients who can start treatment.

In August, Novo Nordisk said supply constraints were likely to last until 2024. Analysts have warned that supply constraints on Wegovy could give rival Eli Lilly and Company's Mounjaro a head start in the weight-loss drug market.