China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has approved Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy medication for chronic weight management, opening up competition for next-generation obesity drugs in China, reports Bloomberg. The NMPA gave the nod to Novo to market the weekly jab for treatment of people who are overweight or obese, the Danish company said in a WeChat statement on Tuesday. The diabetes treatment version of the drug was approved in China in April 2021, under the brand Ozempic.
The much anticipated approval means Novo is now able to provide a product for weight loss in a market where patients had been relying on off-label use of diabetes drug Ozempic.
US rival Eli Lilly & Co.’s tirzepatide, sold as Zepbound and Mounjaro in the US, won approval last month in China as a diabetes treatment and is in regulatory review for weight loss.