Forbes August 7, 2024
The respective trajectories of two medications – one that helps obese people lose weight, the other highly effective at preventing heart attacks and strokes – illustrate the forces driving biomedical innovation in the United States.
A Blockbuster Medication
When Novo Nordisk announced last August that Wegovy, its new weight loss drug, reduces heart attacks, strokes, and heart-related deaths by 20%, the news sparked worldwide coverage. Four months later, the company-sponsored study that prompted the announcement was published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Glowing medical commentaries followed.
Despite the drug’s high cost (more than $1,300 per month), troublesome side effects and the requirement that it be given by weekly subcutaneous injection, demand for Wegovy and the other GLP-1 drugs...
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