By Maggie Fick
LONDON (Reuters) – Novo Nordisk will launch its weight-loss drug Wegovy in Germany this month with the injection pen used in Norway and Denmark, instead of the one deployed in the United States to avoid hitting supplies there, the company told Reuters.
Wegovy is a weekly self-injection that leads to an average weight loss of 15%, alongside diet and exercise changes.
Novo launched the drug in the U.S. in June 2021, but quickly ran into production problems. It has also been overwhelmed by demand, forcing it in May to restrict the volume of starter doses it provides in the United States to safeguard supplies for existing patients.
Even so, Novo plans to start selling Wegovy in Germany later this month, its third European market after Denmark and Norway. Its use will likely be limited, though, because a decades-old German law bans public insurance schemes from paying for weight-loss drugs.
The company is using the so-called FlexTouch device in Germany so as not to affect U.S. supplies, a spokesperson said.
The device contains four doses per pen, instead of the one dose in the U.S. pen. Filling of the two different types of syringes is done separately.
The spokesperson declined to give details on production of the pens. The company uses the disposable FlexTouch for other drugs including insulin and Saxenda, its earlier and less effective weight-loss drug.
UBS analyst Michael Leuchten said Novo was able to launch Wegovy in Germany even though demand is still outstripping supplies for two reasons: take-up will be low and, with the different pen, any new demand will not eat into supply for the U.S. market.
(Reporting by Maggie Fick; Editing by Josephine Mason and Mark Potter)
