OTTAWA — Novo Nordisk, the Danish drug company that makes Ozempic and Wegovy, wants the Canadian government to stop what it calls “rogue online pharmacies” from selling medications to customers who aren’t proven Canadian residents.
That would enlist the government’s help and money in keeping Canadian pharmacies from selling cheaper generic versions of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes and obesity treatments to Americans when they become widely available in Canada.
The call is in a submission the company sent to the House of Commons’ finance committee as input for the next federal budget.
Novo Nordisk is preparing for the January expiry of its Canadian patent on semaglutide, the key ingredient in its super-popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs, when other companies will be allowed to sell generic alternatives. Novo Nordisk’s U.S. patent protections on the substance—which defend the company’s ability to charge higher prices for semaglutide drugs without competition—will last years longer. All that revenue is important to a company struggling to hold the ground that Ozempic and Wegovy staked out early.
Talking Points
Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk wants the Canadian government to stop online pharmacies from selling drugs outside Canada, particularly to Americans
Its call comes as Novo Nordisk prepares for generic versions of its diabetes and weight-loss drugs to hit the Canadian market, years before they’re allowed in the U.S.
Ozempic’s U.S. protection lasts until 2032; Wegovy’s patent situation is more complex, but protections on some aspects of how it’s made and used could last until 2041.
The Logic sent questions to Novo Nordisk asking whether future cross-border sales of generic semaglutide drugs played any part in its request to the federal government. Spokesperson Kate Hanna did not answer directly.
“We work in close collaboration with all levels of government to ensure access and availability of our medicines for Canadians and to limit the sale of our medicines to non-Canadian residents,” Hanna wrote in an email.
In its written filing, Novo Nordisk bills the request as a measure to make sure Canadians can get critical medicines. “Canada must take action to protect its drug supply from a country 10 times its size,” the submission says.
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Florida is interested in importing Canadian drugs in bulk; Health Canada can block exports from Canadian manufacturers if they would lead to shortages in Canada, but that power covers manufacturers and wholesalers. Individual pharmacies are under provincial jurisdiction, and that’s a loophole, Novo Nordisk’s filing says.
Under U.S. regulations, it’s typically not legal to import drugs that aren’t already approved for use in that country, even from Canada. But Novo Nordisk’s submission points to a U.S. Senate bill, with both Democratic and Republican backing, that would let individuals buy certain medications from Canada. They would have to come from a U.S.-certified Canadian pharmacy and have “the same active ingredient or ingredients, route of administration, dosage form, and strength” as a U.S.-approved version.
The company’s submission points specifically to American demand for Canadian Ozempic as a problem.
“In January and February 2023, 19 per cent of all Ozempic (semaglutide) prescriptions dispensed in British Columbia were shipped to American customers seeking lower priced Canadian medicine, contributing to a national drug shortage,” the submission says.
There was a global Ozempic shortage at the time. The drug had been available for years as a diabetes treatment but demand shot past supply when doctors started prescribing it more and more for weight loss, an “off-label” use.
Generics manufacturers are working hard to ensure that won’t be a problem for Canadian semaglutide patients. At least five companies have applied to Health Canada to sell generic semaglutide, with Aspen Pharmacare and Teva joining Sandoz, Apotex and Taro Pharmaceuticals in August.