The CEO of a leading drug company is calling for wider access to fat-loss jabs in Australia, arguing it could reduce long-term health costs.
CEO of pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, Mike Doustdar, said the firm is having “very good” dialogue with the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) about access to its medicines.
In Australia, weight loss drug Ozempic is currently approved under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme only for people with type 2 diabetes who meet specific criteria.
Novo Nordisk produces Ozempic and Wegovy, while United States company Eli Lilly makes Mounjaro.
“In some ways, they are medications that save taxpayer money. I like to think the GLP-1 category is one of those,” he told Sky News Business Editor Ross Greenwood.
“When you get into better health now, when you reduce weight, when you improve your chances of having a heart attack or a fatty liver, tomorrow, this is a small amount to pay for very large bills and hospitalisations later on. That is, I think, the message that we are bringing forward.
“We also, of course, price our products at value. Australia has the best GLP-1 price around the world, and we are proud of that, and I think that it deserves it.
“We are having very good dialogue with PBAC to really make sure that we can prove that value and ensure that some of these products get insured.”
A pill version of Wegovy was given the green light last year by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), giving Novo Nordisk an advantage over competitor Eli Lilly.
Mr Doustdar hopes to make the option accessible to Australians in the future.
“Think about your vaccine. You cannot drink your vaccine, the gut enzymes and acids destroy it before it gets to your bloodstream. We’ve been able to create a pill and encapsulate it in very special technologies that allow for that to happen,” he added.
“Our product in the pill format has the exact same efficacy as the injectable one. So patients have the choice of going for a weekly injection or a daily pill with the same efficacy and the same tolerability, which is fantastic.
“We have introduced that in the US and hope to expand from there into other markets, hopefully also one day here.”
In December, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) warned patients taking GLP-1 weight loss and diabetes jabs should be monitored for suicidal behaviour.
Product warnings across medicines were updated to ensure “consistent information regarding the potential risk of suicidal thoughts or behaviours”.
However, the Advisory Committee on Medicines found insufficient evidence the drugs actually caused suicidal ideation – although it still advised information for the drugs should be updated to add awareness of potential risks.