Wegovy, Novo Nordisk's obesity treatment drug that led the 'miracle obesity drug' craze by demonstrating nearly 15% weight loss effects, will land in Korea next month.
Novo Nordisk's GLP-1 class treatment 'Wegovy (active ingredient Semaglutide)' [Photo by Novo Nordisk]
On the 10th, Novo Nordisk Korea announced that Wegovy will be launched in Korea next month. Although it was approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety last April as an adjunct for "weight loss and weight management in patients with obesity or overweight with comorbidities," it faced difficulties in securing supply, and it has only been about a year and a half before patients can actually access it.
Wegovy is a drug containing semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 receptor agonist. Initially, this drug was developed as Ozempic, a diabetes treatment, based on the fact that GLP-1 is secreted from the pancreas along with insulin to regulate blood sugar. However, it was confirmed that this ingredient also acts on the stomach and brain to suppress appetite and has weight loss effects, leading to its introduction as the obesity treatment drug Wegovy.
In eight overseas countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan where Wegovy has been sold, it has shown sensational popularity and rapidly increasing sales. Last year alone, it recorded sales of $4.5 billion (about 6 trillion KRW), showing a 407% growth compared to the same period the previous year. Furthermore, clinical studies have additionally confirmed that it can improve cardiovascular diseases and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which are major causes of obesity-related illnesses, thereby expanding its treatment scope day by day. Moreover, global Phase 3 clinical trials to prove its efficacy in treating dementia are also underway in Korea and other countries.
Wegovy not only achieves simple weight loss but also shows effects such as reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease occurrence, and public insurance coverage is applied in countries like the United States. However, since insurance reimbursement applications have not yet been made in Korea, it is expected to be launched as a non-reimbursed drug. In the United States, Wegovy is sold at about $1,350 (approximately 1.8 million KRW) per month of treatment. The domestic launch price has not yet been determined.
However, unlike Wegovy, which is scheduled to be launched next month, the diabetes treatment drug Ozempic with the same active ingredient has an uncertain launch schedule. A Novo Nordisk official explained, "Although the main ingredients of the two products are the same, the dosage compositions differ, making them different products. Production and distribution plans also inevitably differ, so Ozempic has not yet secured supply quantities for launch, and its launch schedule is undecided."
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