After hitting the US market to critical acclaim earlier this year, Wegovy is finally available in the UK.
And the success was so great that the profits of the Danish company Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical giant behind the jab, skyrocketed. In the first half of this year, it raised a whopping £4.5 billion.
Novo Nordisk attributed this increase – a one-third, or £1.3 billion, increase over the previous period – to skyrocketing demand for its weekly semaglutide shots. The demand has made Novo Europe’s most valuable publicly traded company.
Wegovy, which has been shown to help patients reduce body weight by approximately 15 percent when used alongside exercise and lifestyle changes, is currently available in the United States, Norway, Denmark, Germany and, starting Monday, in the United States. Britain. Ozempic is another popular brand of semaglutide jab.
Britain’s Simple Online Pharmacy revealed today that it has received the jab, but it’s not yet known whether the NHS has, too.
Praised by celebrities like Elon Musk and Jeremy Clarkson, semaglutide shots have been proven to help overweight patients lose up to 21 pounds in just over a year by suppressing their appetite. Doctors are giving the drug to “more patients than ever before,” Novo Nordisk said.
Semaglutide is sold as Wegovy for overweight or obese people
Celebrities like Elon Musk, Jeremy Clarkson and Remi Bader have spoken out about the ‘truly incredible’ Ozempic, which suppresses appetite and makes users feel fuller
Danish pharmaceutical titan Novo Nordisk raked in £4.5 billion in the first half of 2023 – a third, or £1.3 billion, more than in the previous period
A Novo spokesman said deliveries of Wegovy to a UK wholesaler had begun, but declined to comment on Simple Online Pharmacy’s statement that it had already received the drug.
Novo supplies its medicines to the wholesaler, who then has control over further distribution, said the spokesperson, but would not say which wholesaler is involved.
However, the high demand around the world is causing huge supply problems.
Wegovy will only be given to overweight people, unlike Ozempic, a different brand name semaglutide shot, which is only approved for diabetics.
Novo Nordisk, announcing a so-called ‘limited and controlled’ launch in Britain, said Wegovy will be available through the NHS weight management program and ‘privately through a registered healthcare professional’.
Some doctors and medical experts warned on Monday that Britons who can afford to pay out of pocket may find it easier to access Wegovy than those seeking treatment in the country’s state health service.
The NHS did not immediately respond Tuesday morning to a question as to whether it had received Wegovy shares.
Novo Nordisk revealed that it is also limiting supply in the US as the company struggles to keep up with demand.
Semaglutide works by hijacking the brain to suppress appetite and reduce calorie intake, resulting in significant weight loss. It does this by mimicking the hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which is released after eating.
It was nicknamed Hollywood’s worst kept secret, with fans like Elon Musk and Jeremy Clarkson.
Even Kim Kardashian was rumored to have used it to quickly lose 7.3kg to fit into Marilyn Monroe’s ‘Happy Birthday Mr President’ dress at the 2022 Met Gala.
Novo Nordisk’s financial report for the first half of 2023 shows it posted a net profit of DKK 39.2 billion (£4.5 billion), compared to DKK 27.5 billion (£3.2 billion) the year before.
The company – Europe’s second most valuable after luxury goods company LVMH – said the trend was “primarily driven by” a 49 percent increase in sales of GLP-1 diabetes drugs.
Wegovy and Ozempic, both of which contain semaglutide, work by prompting the body to produce a hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1, which is released naturally from the gut after meals.
Jeremy Clarkson (left) revealed this month that he was taking Ozempic in an attempt to lose weight. When asked in October whether following a healthier diet or hitting the gym was the cause of his 13.6 kg weight loss, Elon Musk (right) cited “fasting” and “Wegovy”
In total, sales of these drugs amounted to 99 billion kroner (£11.5 billion).
Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, president and CEO of Novo Nordisk, said: “We are very pleased with the sales growth in the first half of 2023.
“Growth is driven by increasing demand for our GLP-1-based diabetes and obesity treatments, and we are serving more patients than ever before.”
He added that obesity is aserious chronic diseases and weight-related conditions can be significantly reduced by treating people with semaglutide.
It comes after a study this week of 17,600 people showed that overweight or obese adults who take Wegovy are one-fifth less likely to have heart attacks and strokes.
Trial results show that nine in ten Wegovy users lose 5 percent of their body weight over the course of 68 weeks, while three in ten lose a fifth.
Participants also reduced their calorie intake and increased the amount of exercise they did.
However, like all medications, it has side effects.
Headache, vomiting and diarrhea are among the most common. Some also experience acid reflux, fatigue, and complain that food tastes different after taking the drug.
It’s this side effect that some people appreciate because it further aids their weight loss—by making their favorite junk food taste bad.
Other rarer side effects include gallstones, inflammation of your pancreas — known medically as pancreatitis — and an increased risk of low blood sugar and kidney problems.
The jab is also under investigation due to fears that it causes cancer after studies in mice and rats suggested semaglutide might increase the risk of medullary thyroid cancer.
Research has also shown that users can quickly regain pounds once they stop taking the fat-fighting drug.
In March, Wegovy was approved by the UK’s drug watchdog for up to four million Britons with one weight-related condition and a BMI of 30 or higher.
The drug has been available for weight management in the US since 2021, but has yet to launch in the UK due to supply issues.
Despite being hailed as one of the most powerful pharmaceutical tools to date, experts have warned that it is not a “magic pill” or a panacea. Trials have shown that users can quickly gain weight back when they stop taking the drug, and that this can cause a variety of unpleasant side effects. Users often complain of nausea, constipation and diarrhea
A UK study found that people taking Wegovy experienced rapid weight loss, losing 18% of their weight in 68 weeks. They regained two-thirds of that weight, or 12% of their original body weight, in the year after they stopped the weekly injections
Meanwhile, Ozempic is given to type 2 diabetics to control their blood sugar levels.
However, since it uses the same ingredient, it can help with weight loss.
Health officials last month warned that off-label prescribing was “strongly discouraged” for those seeking to shift the balance, as it could leave diabetes patients without their essential medication.
Due to the difficulty in meeting demand, Novo Nordisk confirmed it would continue to limit supplies of Wegovy in the US to ensure there are sufficient doses for existing patients.
Mr Jorgensen said: ‘We’ve seen that the initiative we took earlier this year, limiting the starter dose, has actually helped contain this dynamic. So we want to expand that in the coming quarters.’
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