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Few would have guessed not so long that a pharmacist focused on the insulin segment would become a company with A higher value than Tesla. Novo Nordisk became the most valuable quoted company in Europe Thanks to the fashion product: Ozempic. This diabetes treatment spun by becoming the Miracle of weight loss that many needed, Despite its side effects. But there are situations that do not last forever and China is about to seize Ozempic tooth in a market with a lot of potential.
And they have about twenty biosimilar copies calling the door.
Challenging the reign. In recent days we have seen that something strange has happened with Ozempic. By mistake or for a failure in the calculations, Novo Nordisk carries years without paying protection rates of the Ozempic patent in Canada. It is a quota that serves to protect the compound on which the popular Ozempic and Wegovy drugs, the same pharmaceutical drugs.
It is something that is allowing local companies to be Finally generic medications based on the peptide similar to LPG-1. It is about the hormone that “mimics” the semagglutide that allows this antidiabetic and thinning effect.
The Chinese market rubs your hands. In China, something similar happens. The patents have a life time that allow those who have registered them with that competitive advantage, but after the established period, the ban opens. While in Europe and Japan this patent will expire in 2031, and in 2032 in the United States, the protection of the patent in China It will expire Next year, as we read in South China Morning Post.
Lek Consulting is a consultant based in Boston and comments that “China is home to populations with the highest number of diabetic and overweight people, and has become a key battlefield for both global pharmaceutical giants and for local actors.”
Montones competitors. According to the SCMP report, in China there are at least 20 biosimilar copies that will compete for this market share, which will generate absolute pressure in the prices of the semaglutida. “The panorama in China is expected to become even more competitive than in the developed markets, where the category of GLP-1 medicines is dominated by large multinational pharmaceuticals,” commented Helen Chen, global co -director of Medical Care and Life Sciences of Le.K.
Currently, Novo Nordisk opera In China both with Ozempic and Wegovy, but Eli Lilly also operates in the Chinese market, the American company with a response to the drug that could enter the country thanks to the premises Innovent Biologics. In the summer last year, They announced An expansion plan of more than 200 million euros to expand a plant in Suzhou with which to meet demand in the Asian giant.
But, in addition, there are several dozens of drugs that are in advanced phases of clinical trials in China and, as they comment from Le.K., some have potential to compete directly with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly products.
A very fat cake. That there are so many interested parties is the most normal. China, by overwhelming population numbersit is a huge market for any product, but in this field, we are talking about the second largest pharmaceutical market in the world, with almost 150 million adults with diabetes. It is more than any other country and, according to the International Diabetes Federation, the estimate is that the figure increases to 168 by 2050.
But also, in 2021 The Lancet Medical Magazine estimated that 402 million people over 25 years in continental China had obesity. By contextualizing, it is a figure that represents 38% of the population and that reflects the country’s life progress. In 1990, the figure was 15.8% and wait that reaches 61% in 2050.
New generation. Grand View Research is an American consultant who wait That the GLP-1-based medication market triples its sales in China by 2030, from 1,430 million dollars last year to 4.7 billion. But of course, there are more competitors for Ozempic does not imply that Novo Nordisk is cross -arms.
A few months ago, the Danish company announced that the results for Your new medicine, called CagrisemaThey were promising. In the essays, its new combination of Semaglutida and Cagrilintida It has shown a striking potential, with a medium weight loss of 15.7% in 68 weeks compared to 3.1% of the group that received placebo. In addition, they reached a development and manufacturing agreement of another compound known as UBT251 with a Chinese laboratory, United Biotechnology, which will be responsible for commercialization in China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
Everything based on miracles? It is evident that Novo Nordisk does not want to lose the train of the new generations of drugs that have exploited in popularity thanks to their status as miraculous compounds for weight loss. But not everything is needles, since Eli Lilly is already Testing pills with the same effects as the ‘Ozempicazo‘And more natural alternatives are being explored, such as diet, in the search for a “Natural Ozempic”
Although, beyond the miracle, the closest thing to that “natural ozempic” is a balanced diet, exercise and good rest. The Holy Trinity of Healthy Lifeultimately.
Images | Javier Quiroga, HAVEREDAS
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