It costs between 169 and 235 euros per month: the anti-obesity drug Wegovy arrives this Monday in tablet form in French pharmacies

It is now available in a new form: the anti-obesity drug Wegovy, previously offered in France in the form of injections, will now be available in tablets from this Monday, November 2 in French pharmacies. This is the first drug in the GLP-1 class marketed in France in oral form. These treatments mimic the action of a gut hormone that regulates appetite and promotes weight loss.

Already available in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany, the Wegovy pill (semaglutide) is offered in France on medical prescription to obese or overweight adults with at least one comorbidity linked to their weight. When it was launched, the tablet was not covered by Health Insurance. And for the moment, the laboratory has not filed a reimbursement request.

Patients will therefore have to pay 169 euros to 235 euros per month depending on the dosage, prices lower than those charged at the start of the first injectable GLP-1. These had also been marketed at a free price before being reimbursed in France since June for the most serious forms of obesity. At the same time, the Novo Nordisk laboratory is also releasing this Monday in France a high-dose version of Wegovy by injection (at 7.2 mg) to expand its offer.

An “additional therapeutic option” according to the laboratory But several unknowns remain. “How many new patients will start using these medications?” and “How many will switch from injectable to oral?

", raises Alexandre Fauconnier, from the Kearney consulting firm. Nearly 100,000 patients who are overweight or obese already take Wegovy in France.

And in France, the medical and socio-economic cost of obesity is estimated at 18 billion euros per year, according to the Asterès firm, mandated by Novo Nordisk. For Novo, “the tablet does not replace the injectable: it makes it possible to treat patients who were not treated before”. This is “an additional therapeutic option”.

Its authorization was granted based on the results of a clinical study showing an average weight loss close to 17% with the highest dose after approximately 15 months of treatment. Eli Lilly is not to be outdone. Its oral obesity treatment, orforglipron, has been marketed in the United States under the name Foundayo since April and in the United Kingdom since August.

Its arrival in Europe is expected soon, after the favorable opinion given in mid-October by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the first step before its marketing authorization in the EU. “The markets are closely following the curves of the first obesity prescriptions for the two products,” observes Alexandre Fauconnier. At this point, the Wegovy pill has taken a lead, generating sales of more than $480 million in the second quarter.

Machine-translated from French