Those who rush to buy the compliant "miracle weight loss drug" Semaglutide in the US "miss" the purchasing agents.
The story about the rush to purchase Semaglutide, the "miracle weight-loss drug", has a new development.
In late November, Novo Nordisk's weight-loss version of Semaglutide (hereinafter referred to by the trade name "Wegovy") started to be sold in hospitals. This GLP-1 weekly preparation, the world's first for long-term weight management, has finally shed the label of "off-label use for diabetes" and begun to be commercialized in China as a weight-loss product in a proper manner.
As a prescription drug, previously, when the weight-loss indication was not officially approved, there were certain obstacles for the general public to purchase Semaglutide. Now that the floodgates have been opened, consumers are naturally going crazy for it. On various social media platforms, there are many posts discussing where to buy Wegovy or showing off appointment records.
Despite the enthusiasm, smart consumers have noticed something: on various appointment channels, the price of Wegovy is much higher than the previous diabetes version "Ozempic". Many industry insiders mentioned that the two products are "identical except for the trademarks". But if the unit price is calculated, the maximum price difference can be more than four times.
After Ozempic entered the national medical insurance in 2022, the prices of the 3ml and 1.5ml products are 814 yuan and 478.5 yuan respectively. After the price adjustment, the current hospital price of the large-size product is basically more than 700 yuan. In the weight-loss clinics of tertiary hospitals, eligible weight-losers can purchase Ozempic at this price through off-label use. In contrast, the marked price of the 1.5ml Wegovy product on e-commerce platforms is basically more than 1,600 yuan.
"The weight-loss indication of Semaglutide will not be included in the national medical insurance. Under the market pricing, it is theoretically reasonable that the price of Wegovy is higher than that of Ozempic," said Wu Di, a management person in charge of e-commerce retail business in a domestic GLP-1 concept enterprise.
In the first three quarters of 2024, in China, where the weight-loss market had not yet been developed at that time, the sales of Semaglutide had reached 700 million US dollars. The listing of the weight-loss indication for a broader group is theoretically expected to bring a larger market space. Some analyses suggest that by 2030, the sales of Semaglutide in China may approach 5 billion US dollars.
But after the previous "market education", This expectation is largely based on consumers' perception that the monthly cost of using Semaglutide for weight loss is several hundred yuan.
Now, with the high price, will a new "miracle drug" really emerge?
Novo is "testing", consumers are waiting and seeing
In the past, the diabetes prescription would prevent many people who wanted to use Semaglutide; but now, with the official approval of the weight-loss indication, it is theoretically expected to lower the use threshold of this product and further increase the volume. This is the major premise for the market to expect Semaglutide to become a new generation of "miracle drug":
According to the regulations, as long as the initial body mass index (BMI) is ≥ 30 kg/m2, or between 27 kg/m2 and 30 kg/m2, and there is at least one weight-related comorbidity of overweight and obesity, people can use the drug after a risk-free metabolic examination.
In actual consultations, this rule may be further relaxed. In many medical institutions visited by 36Kr recently, the doctors' standard is basically that people with a BMI of more than 25 can use the drug.
Weight-losers who once went to great lengths to find a diabetes prescription to buy Semaglutide are happy to see such leniency. But they soon discovered a new problem standing between themselves and Wegovy: the price.
In December, Liang You finally gave up making an online appointment for Wegovy and once again went to a weight-loss clinic in a tertiary hospital in Beijing, buying a 3ml (4mg) large-size Ozempic for less than 720 yuan. In August this year, he had originally stopped using Ozempic, which he had been using for nearly a year. Besides "feeling that he had reached a certain bottleneck in weight loss with the drug", it was also because the weight-loss indication of Wegovy had just been approved in China, and he hoped to buy the weight-loss version directly.
In order to prevent side effects, the use of Semaglutide generally goes through a process of increasing the injection dose from 0.25mg, 0.5mg, 0.75mg, up to 1mg. "Each dose is used for about 2 weeks before increasing."
Currently, on the e-commerce appointment platform, the common specification of Wegovy is 1.5ml (0.68mg/ml, 0.25mg/dose * 4 times), priced at around 1,630 yuan, equivalent to a single-use price of 400 yuan.
But in the "Ozempic era", even when using the maximum dose of 1mg each time, like Liang You, the single-use price of a large-size product is only about 180 yuan. If it starts from 0.25mg and gradually increases, the unit price is only 90 yuan.
The price difference between the two can be more than four times.
This is something that "people like Liang You" did not expect. And the doctor who prescribed the medicine also reminded him that there is no guarantee that he can continue to use the cheap Semaglutide in this way in the future.
"The difference is quite significant," Wu Di explained. "However, globally, regardless of the currency unit, the pricing of Ozempic in China is basically the lowest. But the weight-loss indication is more inclined to the consumer market, and many people are willing to pay a premium for it; in addition, from the perspective of scientific effect, it is better than spending 2,000 yuan per month on sugar control foods or signing up for a weight loss class."
Novo Nordisk obviously understands this. But at the same time, after seeing the price of Ozempic, it is not certain whether the willingness to pay a premium for Wegovy is really so strong among consumers.
In this regard, the supply volume may be an angle to spy on the thoughts of Novo Nordisk's management: After Wegovy was launched, private hospitals such as United Family Healthcare, Jiahui Health, iKang Healthcare Group, and Yufang Group, as well as physical examination institutions, have announced the arrival of the product one after another, opening the appointment channels; at the same time, e-commerce platforms such as Meituan and JD.com have also launched the appointment and treatment services for Wegovy, becoming a powerful assistant in this "weight-loss miracle drug" sales battle.
The momentum is huge. But, "Novo Nordisk just gave a little bit to each potential partner that could increase the volume".
This is the evaluation of a person from a private hospital in East China that was one of the first to introduce Wegovy. The hospital where he works attaches great importance to this product and has planned the appointment service and product sales packages early. Although the impact of not yet reaching a large volume shortly after its launch cannot be ruled out, the first batch of arrivals in his branch is less than 10, and although it was quickly replenished later, there are only about 100, "I heard that the situation of some competitors is similar."
"Novo Nordisk may also be testing the market to see the acceptance of the high-priced Semaglutide by everyone," the aforementioned person from the private hospital believes.
The result of the "test" may be difficult to show effectively in the short term, but another interesting phenomenon is that nearly a month after its launch, on the two major e-commerce platforms led by Meituan and JD.com, Wegovy has successively reduced its price, and the 1.5ml product has dropped from more than 1,600 yuan to less than 1,400 yuan.
E-commerce may face compliance challenges
After Wegovy was launched, an undeniable phenomenon is that e-commerce has played an important role in promoting the sales of this prescription drug.
Obesity is not only a disease definition, and the demand for weight-loss drugs is not limited to clinical use in hospitals. With the consumer attribute of Semaglutide continuously strengthening, the more relaxed and convenient Internet marketing method is indeed more suitable for this product.
However, according to the current management rules, non-antidiabetic drug injections cannot be sold online. After the product was commercialized, Novo Nordisk also stated externally that the company did not authorize the online sales of the product, but would "distribute the product in public and private hospitals and pharmacies according to the distribution of obese patients". At present, many e-commerce links that consumers see mainly play the role of guiding traffic to offline private medical institutions.
In the opinion of some practitioners, due to the additional identity of a prescription drug, there is actually a certain ambiguity in the middle.
At present, although e-commerce platforms will add the label of "Registration + Diagnosis and Treatment + Appointment for Drug Pickup Service" in the product category, which is reasonable in the process. But with the Wegovy product as the "eye-catching point", it is more like "arranging a consultation based on the demand for buying medicine", and essentially it is a part of an already determined drug purchase behavior.
"If it is an appointment for diagnosis and treatment services, it should be carried out according to disease classifications, such as the Endocrinology Clinic and the Respiratory Medicine Clinic, just like our online registration," Wu Di explained.
It is undeniable that with the launch of Wegovy, the identity of Semaglutide as a weight-loss drug will be further strengthened in the minds of consumers. There are also many Chinese enterprises that are interested in seizing this market. According to Insight data, there are more than 70 domestic GLP-1 research projects with the indication of "obesity"; in terms of review and approval, since this year alone, the Semaglutide biosimilar products of enterprises such as Jiuyuan Gene, Huadong Medicine, China Resources Double-Crane Pharmaceutical, and CSPC Pharmaceutical have been approved to carry out clinical trials for weight-loss indications, and those with rapid progress have entered the Phase III clinical stage.
In the future, Most of the transactions of these products may be completed online. While continuing to drive the tens of billions market, issues such as prescription drug regulation and safe medication will inevitably become problems that the government departments, pharmaceutical companies, and even e-commerce platforms cannot avoid.
From a longer-term perspective, Wegovy is exploring the way for the followers. This result is also worth looking forward to.
(All interviewees in the article are pseudonyms)