Weight-loss drugs to boom with generic versions

Experts have predicted that weight-loss medicines will see a boom in popularity, now that the first generic versions are available at lower prices than the original drugs.

Media-dubbed “skinny jabs”, these injections can help people to lose more than 10% body weight. They have been hugely popular over the past few years with celebrities applauding their results.

These include Wegovy, Saxenda and Ozempic, which have been licensed to treat type 2 diabetes, but are prescribed as weight-loss drugs “off-label”. The Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk produces all four, which mimic the gut hormone GLP-1.

It said on Tuesday it would invest more than 4bn dollars (£3.2bn), in US factories manufacturing injectable drugs, to try and meet the booming demand.

Private access to these treatments is costly and difficult to obtain. But there is change afoot.

According to Novo Nordisk , the patents on Victoza and Saxenda are expired. Other drugmakers are now working on generic versions. On Monday, Teva Pharmaceutic Industries of Israel launched the generic version Victoza for the US market.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals, based in London, has been working on a generic version of Victoza for several months. The FDA, the US regulator, had tentatively approved the generic version by Hikma Pharmaceuticals a few days earlier.

There are others: Sandoz, Viatris Mylan, and Pfizer are all reported to have plans to launch generic liraglutide (the active ingredient of Victoza and Saxenda).

These drugs are less expensive than the originals. Teva says that the new generic Victoza will cost $469.60 per two-pack, and $704.40 per three-pack. This is 13.6% less than the original Victoza.

A spokesperson for the company said that “WAC pricing doesn’t account for price discounts offered to our customers and does not reflect our final net prices.”

This is just the beginning. In 2026, both Ozempic & Wegovy will lose their patent protection in China, 2031 in Europe & Japan, and 2032 in the US.

Prof Giles Yeo of Cambridge University said that generic versions would lead to an increase in usage, especially in low-income countries. He said that rich people would always prefer the newer, shinier drugs.

Mark Samuels (CEO of the British Generic Manufacturers Association, BGMA) described the first wave generic weight loss medicines as a potentially transformative opportunity for the public health.

He said that the current market was largely private, with patients self-paying. The cost of patented medicines is prohibitive to the NHS. Therefore, clinicians have prescribed them sparingly. The onset of generics competition is likely to significantly lower the price and allow the NHS to afford treating more patients. It is also good for the health of the population as more people will have access to these medications, reducing the burden obesity-related diseases place on NHS resources.

According to the BGMA, in the UK, generic competitors can reduce prices paid by NHS by up to 80%-90% after losing exclusivity.

Retatrutide, a new weight loss drug developed by Eli Lilly, is being tested in the UK.

He said that he believes competition will reduce the price of these drugs, especially since newer medications often show better weight loss results than semaglutide.

Victoza’s sales to Novo Nordisk for the first quarter of this year were £245m, down 23% on a year ago, while Saxenda saw its first-quarter revenues halved, falling to £188m. Victoza’s sales last year were £982m, down 30% from 2022. Saxenda had revenues of £1.2bn (down 4%).

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry defended the use of Patents as vital for health breakthroughs.

Claire Machin is the executive director for international policy and UK Competitiveness at the industry body. She said that developing drugs is a high-risk procedure, with an average cost of $2.3bn to take a drug from discovery to release last year.

She said that only one or two compounds out of 10,000 tested will make it through all the stages of clinical trials and research, and become licensed medicines for patients. “A strong intellectual-property framework allows for the development of cutting edge medicines and supports future innovation.”

Yeo says that while generic versions of Victoza will appear this month, the real turning point is when semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy) can be produced as a generic. “A powerful drug would then be available for the vast majority of people in the world,” said Yeo.

Cork stated that any cost reduction was welcome, especially since GLP-1 analogs are only available on the NHS to eligible patients for a maximum of two years. He said that the introduction of this measure was due in part to their questionable cost-effectiveness.

A reduction in cost could shift the balance in favor of their long-term use, especially when combined with research that shows the reversal in weight loss once patients stop taking the drugs, and the continuing benefit of cardiovascular risk with longer-term use.

Dr Ivan Koychev, a researcher at the University of Oxford who is studying the use of GLP-1 analogs in dementia patients said that the demand for these drugs currently exceeds the supply due to the high prevalence of type 2 diabetes and obesity.

He said that members of the public are attempting to make the medications themselves or buying them online.

Although it’s unclear how common this practice is, there are many examples on internet forums such as Reddit of people who have reported that they have injected themselves with “DIY”.

Experts warn that this approach can be dangerous. Some people who buy unlicensed semaglutide from unregulated online vendors without a prescription end up in emergency hospital care.

Yeo said that the availability of generic versions at lower prices of drugs like semaglutide may help tackle the issue. Yeo stated that becoming a generic would make the supply of the drug safer because it would reduce the hidden market for the product. We’ll have more information on its long-term health profile. This can only be good.