Negotiations that could have led to coverage of weight-loss drug Wegovy under Canadian public health plans are not moving forward.
Novo Nordisk, the Denmark-based parent company of Wegovy, had been in talks to bring down the cost of the medication by securing coverage under Canada’s public health system.
Canada’s Drug Agency, a non-profit that looks at the cost-effectiveness of different medications, asked the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance, which negotiates prices for drugs on behalf of provincial, territorial and federal governments, to talk with Novo Nordisk.
According to the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance on its website, those negotiations have “concluded without agreement (manufacturer declined negotiation).”
Canada’s Drug Agency said in its July recommendation that Wegovy at its list price is expected to cost $5,066 per patient per year based on the recommended maintenance dose for weight management being 2.4 mg weekly — roughly $400 per month.
Global News reached out to Novo Nordisk for comment.
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“Canada’s Drug Agency has recommended Wegovy, but public reimbursement isn’t being pursued at this time,” said a spokesperson at Novo Nordisk.
“Our commitment remains to provide Canadians with sustainable access to obesity medications, including future innovations.”
In a statement sent to Global News, the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance said its request for negotiation sent in October “was declined by Novo Nordisk without any offers being exchanged and the file has now been closed.”
“We remain ready and available to re-engage this file should they change their mind. To do this, Novo Nordisk can submit an unsolicited offer, which we would welcome. ”
Canada’s Drug Agency recommended that Wegovy, part of the semaglutide group of medications, be available for public reimbursement, provided certain conditions are met for “chronic weight management.”
According to the recommendations, patients eligible for the proposed coverage would have a body mass index (BMI) of 27 kilograms per square metre or greater and have a pre-existing cardiovascular disease. These may include conditions characterized by narrowed arteries leading to reduced blood flow to the heart, brain, or arms or legs.
In order to qualify for the proposed reimbursement of Wegovy, Canada’s Drug Agency had said this should only apply if a patient is also on a reduced-calorie diet, has increased physical activity for chronic weight management, and the cost of Wegovy is reduced.
Canada’s Drug Agency also says, based on its assessments of health economic evidence, “Wegovy does not represent good value to the health-care system at the public list price. A price reduction is therefore required.”
Based on the current list price and expectations for demand in Canada, the CDA says Wegovy could cost public drug plans as much as $600 million over the next three years. It adds that this cost could skyrocket to $3.5 billion depending on uptake.
Ian Patton, director of advocacy and public engagement at Obesity Canada, says weight-loss drugs like Wegovy are “not a magic bullet,” and that they won’t solve everything for everyone, but “they are still effective for a lot of people.”
“For the people that they are helpful for, they can be life-changing, but they are expensive and for the vast majority of people, just not accessible unless we have coverage,” says Patton.
“When we have instances like this where a negotiation is broken off, it just means that Canadians will not have improved access to those treatments for a longer period of time.”
Patton added that semaglutide medications, including Wegovy, Ozempic and Zepound, are approved for use in Canada under certain conditions, but the reimbursement under public health plans is what remains an ongoing issue for patients in need.
Patton also says he’s hopeful generic options could be on the way for Canadians soon that may offer more value.
In the United States, President Donald Trump unveiled a deal earlier in November to slash the prices of some of these treatments in the U.S. through the Medicare and Medicaid programs for qualifying patients.
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