This photo illustration shows part of a Wegovy weight loss medicated injection pen. March 31, 2023, Chicago, Illinois, USA.Reuters/Jim Vondruska/Illustration/File Photo Acquisition of license rights
FRANKFURT, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Less than a month after Novo Nordisk’s (NOVOb.CO) popular weight-loss drug Wegobee hit Europe’s biggest drug market, supplies are limited in Germany. a major drug distributor and doctors told Reuters.
Danish pharmaceutical companies have so far delivered fewer injections to the country each week than the strong demand, wholesalers said.
A spokesman for Noweda, which accounts for almost a quarter of Germany’s pharmaceutical wholesalers, told Reuters that “demand is far higher than what can be supplied”, adding that the problem is nationwide. Ta.
Interviews with four wholesalers, two doctors, a clinic and a pharmacy, which represent three-quarters of the German market, provide the first insight into Wegovy’s development in Germany since its debut in Germany at the end of July. Masu.
They also highlight Novo’s challenge to expand in Europe while it struggles to meet the very high demand in the United States and spends billions on expanding production.
The company said in June that its entry into new European markets would be delayed from its original plans. Earlier this month, it warned of ongoing drug shortages on a regular basis across all regions.
Ahead of its launch in Germany, doctors and patients told Reuters many patients were willing to pay about 300 euros ($300) a month for the maintenance dose they needed after an initial dose increase. He said he expected high demand for the drug.
In response to a Reuters question, a Novo spokesperson said, “We have a controlled and limited launch in Germany and we continue to deliver to wholesalers.” He added that it had no effect.
The company urged physicians to prescribe only as approved for use in obese people with a BMI of at least 30 or at least 27 when weight-related health problems have been diagnosed.
Uninterrupted use is important because sustained appetite reduction and a schedule of increasing drug doses over several months are required.
Dr. Thomas Holbach, a Munich-based obesity specialist, said there is no Wegovy available in his area.
“I have asked many pharmacists about WeGoby, but I have not found anyone who got the drug from a wholesaler,” he told Reuters.
A Noveda spokeswoman said Ozempic, Novo’s diabetes drug, which contains less of Wigobe’s active ingredient, is also in short supply.
A spokeswoman for SanaCorp Pharmahandel, which has nearly 20 percent market share, said pharmacy orders for some doses of Wegobee were “several times” higher than deliveries.
Phoenix Farmahandel, the country’s largest pharmaceutical wholesaler, and Fama Privat, a small-to-medium trade association, are not taking in the quantities needed to meet demand and are doing their best to distribute them fairly. said.
The distributor, which acts as an intermediary between the pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies, did not provide details of sales volumes.
According to the Helios St. Elizabeth Clinic, which runs an obesity center in the western city of Oberhausen, patients managed to get the drug, but they had to ask around and go beyond their usual pharmacies to find it. I had to.
German mail-order pharmacy DocMorris said it had no Wegovy in stock.
Bariatric surgeon Dr Jodok Fink from southwest Freiburg said the patient had no access to Wegovy.
“We prescribe Ozempic because it’s cheaper[than Wigoby]and because Wigoby is not available,” he said.
(1 dollar = 0.9185 euro)
Reported by Ludwig Berger in Frankfurt and Maggie Fick in London.Editing: Josephine Mason and Mark Potter
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