Germany mulls export ban on Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic amid global shortage of weight-loss drugs: report

Ozempic has been approved to treat type 2 diabetes but has also been prescribed “off-label” to treat weight loss because it has the same active ingredient as Novo’s hugely popular anti-obesity drug Wegovy.

The two Novo drugs can help people shed about 15% of their weight.

According to the Der Spiegel report citing Karl Broich, president of the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, some supplies of the obesity drugs, which are cheaper in Germany, are sent to other European countries and to the US.

“We need the drug for the care of diabetes patients and not as a lifestyle drug,” Broich told Spiegel. “You can see that things are being advertised on social media that are not at all in our interest.”

Broich also said that the arrival of competing products can help with supply issues.

“We are currently in talks with lawmakers about what we will do if the current measures and the public messages don’t show an effect,” Broich also told Spiegel.

The European countries are trying to protect supplies of the obesity drugs.

Earlier this week, Belgium tightened rules around prescribing Ozempic and other similar drugs, reserving them for diabetes and people with certain types of obesity.

In a statement on its website, the German drug regulator reiterated a call for physicians to only prescribe drugs from the class of GLP-1 receptor agonists, which include Ozempic and Eli Lilly’s Trulicity, for their approved use against diabetes. It has also urged “all relevant actors” not to export the drugs.

In September,the Belgian agency warned that the availability of Ozempic is limited due to “an acute increase in demand”.

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Updated: 15 Nov 2023, 05:34 PM IST

Ozempic has been approved to treat type 2 diabetes but has also been prescribed “off-label” to treat weight loss because it has the same active ingredient as Novo’s hugely popular anti-obesity drug Wegovy.

The two Novo drugs can help people shed about 15% of their weight.

According to the Der Spiegel report citing Karl Broich, president of the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, some supplies of the obesity drugs, which are cheaper in Germany, are sent to other European countries and to the US.

“We need the drug for the care of diabetes patients and not as a lifestyle drug,” Broich told Spiegel. “You can see that things are being advertised on social media that are not at all in our interest.”

Broich also said that the arrival of competing products can help with supply issues.

“We are currently in talks with lawmakers about what we will do if the current measures and the public messages don’t show an effect,” Broich also told Spiegel.

The European countries are trying to protect supplies of the obesity drugs.

Earlier this week, Belgium tightened rules around prescribing Ozempic and other similar drugs, reserving them for diabetes and people with certain types of obesity.

In a statement on its website, the German drug regulator reiterated a call for physicians to only prescribe drugs from the class of GLP-1 receptor agonists, which include Ozempic and Eli Lilly’s Trulicity, for their approved use against diabetes. It has also urged “all relevant actors” not to export the drugs.

In September,the Belgian agency warned that the availability of Ozempic is limited due to “an acute increase in demand”.

Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more.

Updated: 15 Nov 2023, 05:34 PM IST