Danish pharma giant Novo Nordisk plans to limit initial sales of its obesity treatment Wegovy in China in a bid to balance demand while ensuring global supply.
The Chinese National Medical Products Administration recently approved the blockbuster drug. China’s National Health Commission survey revealed over half of its 1.4 billion population is overweight or obese, media reports said.
Maziar Mike Doustdar, Novo Nordisk’s chief of international operations, stated the company aims to launch Wegovy in China soon, prioritizing continuous supply without affecting availability elsewhere.
As urbanization drives obesity rates, China’s market for GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy could reach 40 billion yuan ($5.5 billion) by 2030, Bloomberg notes, citing HSBC analysis.
Doustdar, told Bloomberg that the company will initially restrict access to Wegovy in China to ensure patients who start the treatment will have a steady supply.
“It’s no secret that the demand is enormously larger than the current supply,” Doustdar told Bloomberg. “We cannot completely open this up on day one to all centers and all doctors and then have a situation where let’s say on Monday we launch the product and by Wednesday or Thursday there’s not enough for those who started it back on Monday.”
