Wait, Why Is Novo Selling Weight Loss Drugs For So Cheap In China?

Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk has launched its mega-popular weight loss drug Wegovy in China — and it's charging just a tiny fraction of what the blockbuster drug costs in the US.

As the Wall Street Journal reports, the drug will first be issued at a public hospital in Shanghai this week for the price of $193 per one-month supply. That's a staggering discount over the almost $1,350 American customers are shelling out for the exact same thing.

And that's despite the drug not being covered by China's national health insurance program.

The news highlights just how broken the pharmaceutical industry is in the US, with companies brazenly ripping off the American people for decades now, simply because they can get away with it. With a fractured commercial health insurance system, perverse incentives for drug makers, and no comprehensive price controls in place, pharmaceuticals often sell the exact same prescription drugs with a hefty markup in the US compared to abroad.

During a Senate hearing earlier this year, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders tore into Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Jørgensen over the issue, calling out the company for "corporate greed."

"Novo Nordisk has developed game-changing drugs which, if made affordable, can save the lives of tens of thousands of Americans every year and significantly improve the quality of life of millions more," Sanders thundered. "If not made affordable, Americans throughout this country will needlessly die and suffer."

Wegovy was first approved by Chinese regulators in June. Researchers have noted that overweight and obesity have become a serious public health problem in the nation, particularly among children. Almost every third child in China was deemed overweight back in 2022, and signs point toward the trend accelerating in the coming years. And more than half of Chinese adults are now overweight or obese, according to a 2021 study.

Now that glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist (GLP-1) drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic — both of which contain the same active ingredient called semaglutide — have shot up in popularity, the nation may have an effective solution on its hands.

Scientists have found that beyond allowing patients to shed weight, semaglutide seems to have other strikingly positive effects, such as treating arthritis, cutting heart disease, and seemingly even making developing Alzheimer's less likely.

And most attractive of all, it's far more accessible from a price point perspective in China. Even taking lower average incomes into account, the cost of the drug is several times cheaper than what it's being sold for in the US.

Even in Canada, the drug is being sold for just under $300 for a month's supply, less than a third of the US price.

That kind of prohibitive pricing could prove a major problem in the US. The country has a long track record of struggling with obesity; according to the Centers for Disease Control, around 40 percent of US adults are currently obese.

But getting access to a potentially life-saving drug like Wegovy may prove a lot harder, particularly due to insurance reasons. At a whopping $1,350, the injections are out of reach for many Americans.

More on weight loss drugs: Mounjaro Appears to Be Extremely Effective at Preventing Diabetes

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