By Ludwig Burger and Maggie Fick

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Novo Nordisk (NYSE:) has launched blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy in Germany, its first large European market, hoping Germans can pay tons of of euros out of pocket for a drug that public medical health insurance plans are up to now barred from protecting.

The drug, proven to assist sufferers scale back physique weight by round 15% when used together with train and way of life modifications, is already accessible in the USA, however in Europe is up to now on sale solely in small markets Norway and Denmark.

“The primary sufferers have redeemed prescriptions in Germany,” a spokesperson for Novo confirmed on Saturday to Reuters, according to beforehand introduced plans to launch the drug there on the finish of July.

The Danish drugmaker’s share worth has greater than doubled within the two years for the reason that drug debuted, turning Novo into Europe’s second-most-valuable listed firm after LVMH.

Medical doctors and sufferers in Germany have informed Reuters they anticipate excessive demand for the weekly injections, with many sufferers ready to tackle the price, beginning at 170 euros ($190) a month and rising to greater than 300 euros as therapy requires the dosage to extend.

Public medical health insurance plans, which cowl about 90% of Germans, won’t foot the invoice, underneath a a long time outdated regulation that bars them from protecting weight-loss medicine.

For the ten% of Germans with non-public medical health insurance, protection will fluctuate. Amongst main suppliers, Allianz (ETR:) says it is going to pay if a doctor diagnoses a medical want, whereas Debeka mentioned its plans exclude weight-loss therapies.

Affected person advocates and physicians have welcomed the arrival of Wegovy in Germany, the place 18.5% of adults are overweight, above the European Union common of 16%.

The Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s state public well being company, says illnesses linked to extra physique weight pose a substantial burden on well being and social safety programs.

Novo is ramping up manufacturing to satisfy hovering demand in the USA, the place the drug sells for as a lot as $1,350 a month. It says it is going to intently monitor prescriptions in Germany to make sure entry for folks with weight problems, but it surely can not not rule out provide delays.

In Germany, Wegovy can be administered with the identical injection pen utilized in Norway and Denmark, totally different from the one utilized in the USA, to keep away from hitting provides there.

Wegovy’s introduction in Germany will stir debate in a nation the place the well being care system has usually handled weight problems as a life-style alternative fairly than a continual illness.

Medical doctors say many Germans searching for to drop some pounds have already used Ozempic, a diabetes drug additionally made by Novo that may be a decrease dose model of the identical ingredient as Wegovy.

Physicians have frightened that provides can be strained by non-obese folks searching for “vainness” prescriptions – a priority mirrored in a Novo assertion in mid-July saying physicians ought to “prescribe responsibly”.

($1 = 0.8984 euros)