The popular obesity product Wegovy from the Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk has been approved in China, Reuters reports.
Thus, the Danish giant is soon ready to sell its acclaimed product in the world's second-largest economy. The approval was not unexpected but yet still an important move into a giant market together with LLY. Already back in March, Novo Nordisk announced that the company would seek approval, which has now been granted.
Novo's biggest competitor, Eli Lilly, got its obesity product approved in China back in May.
It is estimated that there are currently around 200 million overweight Chinese people, but the number is predicted to rise to 500 million by 2045.
Novo Nordisk's patent on the active ingredient, semaglutide, which is found in Novo's obesity drug Wegovy and diabetes drug Ozempic, is already set to expire in less than two years in China. In Europe and Japan, the patent is set to expire in 2031, and in the USA, it is set to expire in 2032.
Therefor Novo Nordisk does not have much time to leverage its patent, and
competitors with generic versions might emerge, but they are unlikely to have a significant market share, which will limit them. Additionally, it requires substantial investment in capacity to keep up with the explosively growing demand, a competitive parameter where Novo Nordisk is strong, making it difficult for local Chinese competitors to follow.
In fact, less than 24 hours ago, Novo Nordisk announced an investment of 4.1 billion dollars – equivalent to around 27 billion danish kroner – in its second factory in the American city of Clayton in the state of North Carolina.
The Novo stock rose by 1.75 percent at the danish stock exchange percent in Tuesday's trading following the approval.
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/novo-nordisk-says-semaglutide-approved-long-term-weight-management-china-2024-06-25/#:~:text=SHANGHAI%2C%20June%2025%20(Reuters),the%20world's%20second%2Dlargest%20economy,the%20world's%20second%2Dlargest%20economy)
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