Wegovy, the ‘Viagra’ of weight-loss drugs flying off the shelves

Feb 12,2024

"So this is Wegovy, you take it four times a month," says the 45-year-old. "Before, I thought, 'maybe I'm not getting to be 60, maybe I'm not seeing my grandkids'.

"But now I'm looking at the future way brighter. [Two years ago] I started on 159kg [25 stone]... Right now, I'm weighing 93.5kg, so I'm in a really good place."

Fuelled by a social media buzz and celebrity users including Elon Musk, Wegovy is a weight-loss drug that has been flying off pharmacy shelves.

Such has been the rise in its global sales that its manufacturer, Danish drug-maker Novo Nordisk, last year became Europe's most valuable listed company.

"I think the only drug which it can be compared with is Viagra," says Kurt Jacobsen, a professor of business history at Copenhagen Business School, in reference to Wegovy's popularity.

Aimed at people who are severely overweight, Wegovy's active ingredient is a medicine called semaglutide, which helps control blood sugar, lowers appetite, and makes patients feel fuller. It is also the active ingredient in sister drug Ozempic, which is used to treat type 2 diabetes.

Research suggests that Wegovy patients can lose more than 10% of their body weight.

However, there can be side effects for some users, such as nausea and vomiting, and research shows that patients often put weight back on after stopping treatment.

These issues have not slowed sales of Wegovy, which increased five-fold in 2023. It is currently available in eight countries - Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, the UAE, the US and the UK - with Japan due to follow at the end of February.

Source: BBC