August 10, 2023 – Novo Nordisk, maker of weight-loss drug Wegovy, said Thursday it will proceed to limit supplies of starter doses of the drug within the United States, a restriction that can likely remain in place next 12 months.
The Danish company is struggling to fulfill demand within the US. It raised its full-year profit and sales forecast for the second time this week and is “riding a wave of extremely high demand for its highly effective diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, which has driven profits and shares to record highs,” Reuters reported.
Wegovy is given as a weekly injection and may also help people lose 15% of their weight.
“But the struggle to meet demand means Novo could lose market share to a number of competitors working on similar weight-loss therapies to Wegovy, vying for a piece of a market estimated to be worth as much as $100 billion by the end of the decade,” Reuters reported.
“The company said it would extend the supply limits it had implemented for Wegovy, after announcing in May that it would halve supply of starter doses to the U.S. market for several months to ensure supplies for existing patients.”
CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen told reporters: “We have seen that our initiative taken earlier this year to limit the starting dose has actually helped control this dynamic. Therefore, we want to expand this initiative in the coming quarters.”
The World Health Organization estimates that greater than 650 million adults are obese and one other 1.3 billion are chubby. Obesity contributes to many health problems, including heart disease and diabetes.