According to reports, the German drug regulatory agency is considering implementing an export ban on the GLP-1 drug Ozempic. Ozempic is the trade name of Smeglutide, a GLP-1 drug owned by Novo Nordisk, a Danish pharmaceutical giant, which is used to treat type 2 diabetes. Wegovy, which has the same active ingredient as this drug, is approved for weight loss.
An official of the German drug regulatory agency pointed out that the supply of Wegovy is limited due to the bottleneck of production capacity, so that the popularity of Ozempic has not diminished, and because the prices of German drugs are cheaper than those of other European countries, they are often sold to other European countries and the United States. We must do something next to turn things around. The official also said that Germany should consider imposing an export ban, so that enough drugs can be left at home and given priority to patients in need at home. However, the opposition believes that the export ban will not only damage the interests of domestic pharmaceutical companies, but also indirectly affect Germany's commercial reputation. Moreover, if such a one-size-fits-all ban leads to the unsalable and crowded Ozempic in Germany, who will be responsible? What if big manufacturing countries like the United States, India and China step up production and our products are squeezed out of the international market?
Can the ban be successful if the scope of use is further expanded?
In the absence of a definitive ban, Novo Nordisk released new research results on November 11th showing that its weight loss drug Wegovy can reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease. This indicates that the drug has other benefits in addition to its known weight loss effects, so it is highly likely to further expand its scope of application.
It is reported that the complete research result named "Select" was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study targeted more than 17,600 patients who had previously suffered from heart disease but did not have diabetes. The results show that Wegovy can reduce the incidence of heart attack, stroke or death from heart disease by 20% compared with taking placebo. Specifically, Wegovy reduced the risk of nonfatal heart attack by 28%, nonfatal stroke by 7% and heart-related death by 15%.
Is the emergence of opposition conducive to promoting the application of new research results in practice?
However, in response to the encouraging findings of the research results, there are many opinions that, given that overweight and obesity are the main risk factors for cardiovascular disease, the benefits of Wegovy to the heart may be indirectly achieved through weight loss, rather than the direct effect of the drug itself. In response, Novo Nordisk stated that given that patients did not start losing weight when cardiovascular benefits first appeared, this indicates that Wegovy's protective effect on the heart is not solely a result of weight loss.
In addition, in the study, nearly 17% of participants receiving Wegovy treatment stopped taking the drug, mainly due to gastrointestinal problems such as vomiting and diarrhea. This proportion is twice that of patients who stopped taking placebo, but more participants in the control group experienced serious adverse events such as heart disease and medical procedures.
Relevant experts pointed out that this product should be used quantitatively by prescription to avoid adverse consequences.
Many experts believe that doctors can consider using Wegovy to treat heart disease. But Chad Weldy, a cardiologist at Stanford University, pointed out that given the size of the patient group covered by the study, doctors should start to consider which patients to prescribe Wegovy based on the data. He said: "Anyone with heart disease or obstructive coronary artery disease and a body mass index of more than 27 is eligible for this study. This is a huge group, but the causes and symptoms of heart disease are different. If patients are allowed to use it, it is easy to cause incomprehensible tragedies.
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