An Ozempic Price War Is Coming

Watch An Ozempic Price War Is Coming - Bloomberg on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00Weight loss drugs are about to get a lot cheaper, and that could change who gets access to them

00:06around the world. Hollywood celebrities and influencers helped make Ozempic a household

00:12name, but for millions battling obesity, the price tag was simply too high. Many couldn't

00:18afford to spend hundreds of dollars a month on brand name drugs like Vigovi and Monjaro.

00:24That's about to change. Patents for semaglutide,

00:27the key ingredient behind Ozempic and Vigovi are starting to expire,

00:31opening the door to generics that could push monthly costs to as low as $15 in some countries.

00:38And that's a game changer in places like China, which is seeing obesity rates climb far more

00:43rapidly than the US. Cost is part of the problem, but supply is another. Drug makers like Novo have

00:50struggled to keep up with surging demands, and several Chinese companies have filed for approval

00:54of semaglutide copycats that could help further them. It's a similar story in India, where obesity

01:01rates are rising fast and generic drug makers are moving in. Both Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are

01:08already cutting prices in these markets to stay competitive. Novo's patents are also expiring

01:14in Brazil and Canada. If low-priced obesity drugs could spread at scale, it could show what's ahead

01:20for the US too when the patent there expires in 2032. At the same time, Novo faces pressure from newer,

01:28more powerful drugs in premium markets like the US. All of it points to a weight loss market on the brink

01:36of a major reset.