Wegovy: The controversial weight loss drug should come to Germany

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The weight loss product “Wegovy”, which is causing a lot of attention, should also be available in Germany in just over a month. “In Germany we want to launch it at the end of July,” said the boss of the Danish manufacturer Novo Nordisk, Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper”.

“Wegovy” has been approved in the EU since early 2022. The active ingredient semaglutide it contains is intended to support weight loss and control together with diet and exercise. It is intended for people with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, i.e. obese. And for overweight people (BMI from 27) with at least one weight-related comorbidity. The drug is administered once a week, and patients can inject it themselves.

So far, the active ingredient semaglutide is available in Germany for the treatment of type 2 diabetes under the brand name Ozempic. However, this is not approved for weight loss.

The body mass index

The body mass index (BMI) is suitable for estimating the body fat percentage. This will be used for the calculation body weight in relation to body size. The BMI is calculated from the quotient of body weight and height squared (kg/m). It is the assessment basis for the weight classification:

BMI under 18.5: underweight
BMI 18.5 to 24.9: normal weight
BMI 25 to 29.9: overweight
BMI over 30: obesity

You can calculate your BMI at the German Obesity Society, for example.

Hype about fat-away-injection

The active ingredient is hyped on social media, also because some celebrities are said to have lost weight. When asked about the secret of his appearance in addition to fasting, tech billionaire Elon Musk mentioned the name of the drug. Novo Nordisk’s share price has increased by more than 40 percent within a year, and the company is now valued at around 250 billion euros on the stock exchange. This makes it one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.

So far, Novo Nordisk has been selling the drug in the USA, Denmark and Norway, Jørgensen told FAS. In the US, the list price for a month’s treatment is $1,300. He advocated that health insurance companies “should cover the costs for the patients with the highest body mass index and for the poorest part of the population”. In Germany, where about one in four adults is considered obese, the drug was not previously available.

Long-term effects are still being studied

In one study, patients who received one dose of semaglutide per week along with lifestyle changes lost an average of about 15 percent in weight after 68 weeks. A comparison group that received a dummy drug only lost a good two percent over the same period, according to the New England Journal of Medicine.

According to the current state of knowledge, however, the effects are not permanent when the drug is discontinued. “As far as we know, obesity is a chronic disease. That means: if you stop the treatment, you gain weight again,” said Jørgensen of the “FAS”. Possibly, however, there could be lasting effects after several years of treatment, but there is still no evidence of this.

For whom the new treatment is really useful

Experts agree: if you are not overweight and only have a little fat on your body, the fat-away-injection will only have a minor effect. Because the effect decreases with the kilos. However, the drug could certainly help people with incipient diabetes, prediabetes, not to slip into type 2 diabetes in the first place.

For obesity therapy, experts consider the weight loss injections with semaglutid to be a real game changer. Anja Hilbert, professor of behavioral medicine and psychological head of the obesity outpatient clinic at the University Hospital in Leipzig, is certain in an interview with the “ MDR ” that they will be of great help. “People will become healthier, will become slimmer,” believes Hilbert. The Hamburg doctor Jens Aberle also judges: “We have never had drugs that were even close to being as effective as we are now experiencing.” The studies also showed a positive effect on the cardiovascular system.

However, nutritionist Uwe Knop warns against too much enthusiasm: All in all, a lot is still unclear. He writes in his expert article: “At the moment, the injection only makes sense as a supplement and support for a holistic obesity therapy – however, one’s own permanent lifestyle change is and remains elementary, because without it nothing works in the long term, except the pointer on the scale fast back up.”