Cheaper generic Ozempic is coming to Canada after Novo Nordisk fails to maintain patent in this country
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As Science reported, a patent, once lapsed, can't be restored. Novo Nordisk will continue to hold its U.S. patent until 2032.
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Ozempic was already the third most prescribed drug in Canada last year with 7,390,000 prescriptions dispensed, a 17 per cent increase over 2023, according to drug analytics research firm IQVIA.
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Several applications for generic semaglutide, the active compound in Novo Nordisk's injectable drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, are now before Health Canada. Last week, a U.S. telehealth service announced plans to expand into Canada next year and offer generic semaglutide at a significant discount.
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Richard Saynor, the head of Sandoz, a global leader in generic and biosimilar drugs, told Endpoint News in June that his company has filed for approval for a generic semaglutide in Canada once Novo Nordisk's patent exclusivity expires 'sometime in Q1 next year.'
Canada is the globe's second-biggest semaglutide market, Saynor told Endpoint News. 'You gotta ask why. I don't think Canadians are disproportionately large. There's clearly a dynamic, like insulin, with cross-border business,' he said. Americans with diabetes have crossed into Canada to buy insulin at much lower prices.
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Ozempic and Wegovy cost about $5,000 per year. If money is no longer a factor, if chemically-identical drugs are cheaper and more affordable, 'that's going to change the calculus for many people,' said Justin Lehmiller, a senior research fellow at Indiana University's Kinsey Institute and co-author of a new survey exploring the impact that weight-loss drugs — formally known as GLP-1 agonists — are having on dating and intimacy.
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The survey of 2,000 single Americans (aged 18 to 91) led by Kinsey with DatingNews.com found eight per cent reported having used a GLP-1 medication for weight loss in the past year.
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Among the GLP-1 users, 16 per cent said exes had reached out to reconnect, 14 per cent said they were getting more matches on dating apps and 12 per cent said they were going on more dates. The drugs seemed to be doing more to booster 'online dating success' for men than for women, the researchers said.
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'Some of the studies and research that I've seen suggest that men only match one in 100 times on dating apps where for women, it's more like one in 10,' Lehmiller said. 'An attractiveness boost for men, which often accompanies using these drugs, could translate into a much bigger impact for them in the world of dating.'
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