Novo Nordisk is preparing a big push behind a new weight-loss treatment that it believes can overcome the reluctance of doctors and healthcare providers to use drugs to tackle obesity.
The Danish company has set a target for revenues of $1bn a year or more from its Saxenda medicine as it bets that pharmaceuticals will play an increasing role in helping people lose weight.
“There is a growing recognition that [medicines] can be effective in combination with changes in behaviour and diet,” said Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, chief science officer. “We’re not saying take this drug and nothing else; we see it as an adjunct.”
The European Medicines Agency on Friday recommended Saxenda for approval, clearing the way for it to be launched on both sides of the Atlantic this year after receiving a green light from the US Food and Drug Administration last month.
Novo Nordisk said it was planning to commit 500 of its 3,000-strong US sales force to the product in a sign of its ambition to make obesity a significant new business on top of its dominant position in the diabetes market.
Pharmaceuticals companies have long eyed the potential of weight-loss drugs as levels of obesity have risen across the developed world — and increasingly in emerging markets such as China and Brazil.
However, existing treatments have struggled to take off because of concerns over side effects and doubts about their long-term benefits.
Saxenda has also faced scrutiny over possible risks including acute pancreatitis among some people taking the drug and the EMA has ordered further monitoring and restrictions on usage.
However, the EU drugs regulator said it was persuaded that benefits outweighed risks for obese adults who also suffer at least one related condition such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
In clinical trials, Saxenda helped 92 per cent of people lose weight compared with 62 per cent on diet and exercise alone. Patients taking the drug lost an average of 9.2 per cent of their body weight, compared with 3.5 per cent for those on a placebo.
September 2014: Rising insulin sales have made Novo Nordisk one of the strongest growth stories in the pharma sector. The FT’s Andrew Ward asks chief executive Lars Sørensen if the company prefers treating the disease rather than finding a cure
The treatment involves a reformulation of Novo Nordisk’s existing liraglutide medicine for type 2 diabetes, marketed as Victoza. Taken at a higher dose, it has been shown to regulate appetite by suppressing feelings of hunger.
Novo Nordisk has not yet announced its pricing but Mr Thomsen acknowledged that cost was likely to be a deterrent to widespread uptake in Europe.
There are signs, however, that the region’s public-funded health systems are beginning to look beyond diet and exercise as remedies for obesity.
England’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which judges cost-effectiveness in healthcare, last year recommended a big expansion in surgical intervention such as stomach bypasses and gastric bands.
Sir Stephen Bloom, an expert on diabetes and obesity at Imperial College London, predicted that weight-loss drugs would also become increasingly accepted.
“We’ve been telling people for almost 100 years to eat less and do more exercise yet we have continued to get fatter,” he said. “This is lowering people’s life expectancy because it increases the risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke and many other diseases.
“When prices come down in the long run and side effects are reduced they will be impossible to resist.”