How weight-loss drugs trounced a luxury giant, explained
Novo Nordisk’s operating profit soared 30% year-on-year in the first half of 2023. Both injectables contain the same active ingredient, semaglutide, that tricks the brain into thinking the stomach is full, driving down calorie intake, thereby leading to weight reduction. The drugs have reportedly helped reduce around 12% of body mass on average.
Ozempic was first approved by the US regulator in 2017 for people with type-2 diabetes. Novo Nordisk rebranded semaglutide with a higher dose as Wegovy for exclusively treating weight loss, with the US approval coming in 2021. Last week’s jump in the shares came after the UK’s National Health Service announced a “controlled and limited launch" of Wegovy for some patients for weight control.
But experts also point out side-effects, including the chance of regaining weight fast once one gets off the drug, which is why approvals have come only for those who really need it. Novo Nordisk has been sued in the US for failing to adequately warn about unpleasant gastrointestinal side-effects and there are complaints of people looking older. Indian physicians are also treading cautiously.
(The injectable version hasn’t yet hit the Indian market.) The insatiable appetite for weight-loss drugs stems from the fact that obesity is a big, and growing, health problem. According to the World Health Organization, over one billion people worldwide are obese, meaning they have a body mass index (BMI) above 30. A BMI of 25-30 is considered “overweight".
People with high BMI are at a risk of several non-communicable diseases from diabetes to heart disease and stroke. “Carrying excess weight can lead to musculoskeletal disorders including osteoarthritis," says the WHO. Reasons for the obesity crisis
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