Still lifetime of Wegovy an injectable prescription weight reduction drugs that has helped individuals with weight problems. It must be used with a weight reduction plan and bodily exercise.
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Novo Nordisk on Thursday mentioned 80% of U.S. sufferers with insurance coverage protection who take its extremely fashionable weight reduction therapy Wegovy are paying lower than $25 a month for the drug.
The remarks counsel that many insured Americans do not should shoulder the total price of a month-to-month package deal of Wegovy, which has an inventory worth of round $1,350. It additionally comes as many U.S. well being insurers balk on the excessive price of Wegovy and different weight problems medication whereas dropping them from their plans, at the same time as demand for these therapies soar nationwide and outpace provide.
But Doug Langa, Novo Nordisk’s vp for North America, mentioned on a third-quarter earnings name Thursday that almost all main well being plans and pharmacy profit managers are masking Wegovy.
Langa acknowledged that some employers are opting out of protection, however famous that the corporate general is seeing extra insurers choose in to cowl the weekly injection.
He estimated that about 50 million Americans with weight problems may very well be eligible for Wegovy protection underneath their well being plans.
“Directionally, we’re heading in the right direction and our focus will be continuing on securing employer coverage as well as stronger access for Americans overall,” Langa mentioned in the course of the name.
However, the $25 out-of-pocket price will doubtless add up over time. Most sufferers should take Wegovy for a number of months to see – and maintain – vital weight reduction.
Wegovy, for instance, results in 15% weight reduction after 68 weeks, in line with scientific trials on the drug.
The longer therapy length can be one purpose why some well being insurers are hesitant to cowl Wegovy and related weight reduction medication, which generally work by mimicking a hormone produced within the intestine to suppress an individual’s urge for food.
At roughly $1,000 monthly on common for medicines which are usually taken for months or perhaps a yr, the medication are straining insurers’ budgets.
But Novo Nordisk is hoping that new information demonstrating the guts well being advantages of Wegovy will put extra strain on insurers to cowl the remedy and related weight reduction therapies.
A latest late-stage trial discovered that Wegovy diminished the chance of cardiovascular occasions like coronary heart assault and stroke by 20%. The outcomes counsel that Wegovy and related weight problems and diabetes medicines like these in improvement by Eli Lilly and others might have long-lasting well being advantages past shedding undesirable kilos.
Novo Nordisk CFO Karsten Munk Knudsen advised CNBC on Thursday that Wegovy might obtain expanded approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a therapy for decreasing the chance of heart problems inside six months.
More than two in 5 adults have weight problems, in line with the National Institutes of Health.
About one in 11 adults have extreme weight problems.
Source: www.cnbc.com”