The anti-obesity drug Wegovy arrives in France on Tuesday, but will only be available in a specific care pathway. Etienne Tichit, the French general manager of Novo Nordisk, indicates that this medication helps reduce the cardiovascular risks linked to this disease.
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Very popular in the United States, Wegovy is a medication intended for patients suffering from severe obesity. The Danish laboratory Novo Nordisk which manufactures it has the largest market capitalization in Europe. Tuesday October 8, it arrives in French pharmacies, with strict supervision from the Medicines Safety Agency.
franceinfo: Etienne Tichit, you are the French general manager of Novo Nordisk. Do you understand this caution?
Etienne Tichit: Our company Novo Nordisk is owned by a foundation. As such, we have the responsibility both to develop innovations, to control the entire production chain and also to work upstream on the entire prevention part. So for us, chronic diseases for over 100 years, it’s extremely important. When we talk about the treatment of obesity today, obviously, we are talking about an innovation which must also be supported by all health professionals.
It is the first drug of this type marketed in France, it can only be obtained on prescription from a specialist in endocrinology-diabetology-nutrition and will not initially be reimbursed by Social Security. Is this a good thing?
For three or four years now, we have managed to establish a care pathway, support for recommendations mentioning the product in question. And so for us, this is very good news in the sense that, in addition to everything that may be lifestyle rules and medication treatment, it is part of the care pathway.
It will be necessary for a specialist to prescribe this medication, other treatments must have previously failed, you will need to be under 65 years old, and have a specific BMI. Is all this supervision necessary to show that it is a medicine and not an appetite suppressant?
Exactly, it’s a medicine. This is an important innovation today, when we have 10 million French people affected by obesity.
In France, 8% of the population suffers from obesity, and a third from overweight or obesity. The market is huge.
That’s a lot of patients to treat. But beyond weight, we must also preserve the other organs. And what seems important to us is the entire cardio-metabolic sphere, the one in which we have had real legitimacy for more than 100 years at Novo Nordisk. Because in this context, we can prevent cardiovascular accidents and myocardial infarctions.
“Behind, the objective is not only to lose weight, it is also to ensure cardiovascular survival.”
Etienne Tichit, general manager France of Novo Nordiskat franceinfo
What are the results of your medication?
Between 15% and 17% weight loss, and 15% reduction in cardiovascular risk.
What price will be recommended for this medication? Wegovy comes on the market for between 274 euros and 365 euros per month, which is still extremely expensive, especially since it is not reimbursed by Social Security.
This is an indicative price that you mention. In an environment of non-reimbursed medicines, the margins of the different players are free, and therefore variable.
Do you expect reimbursement from Social Security?
We hope so, and in any case, we are doing everything to prove to the health authorities that, today, we are going much further than weight management. We also treat the case.
What consequences for France and in particular for the Chartres production site which today employs 1,750 people? Will this medicine be manufactured in France?
On November 23, 2023, we announced, in the presence of President Emmanuel Macron, the extension of our site with a record investment of 2.1 billion euros, to build a health gigafactory. The aim is to ensure that we can both continue to produce historic insulin treatments and also this new treatment.
So do you hope to produce this medicine in France?
In any case, we will do everything to be able to produce it at some point in France.
What does it depend on?
I think it’s multi-factorial. What is important for us today is to have production lines on the Chartres site which allow us to accommodate all of the group’s innovations. And typically, this is one of them.