Carolina Rudah
Novo Nordisk (NVO) is up 2.1% in premarket trade after the company’s Wegovy weight loss treatment was approved in the world’s second-largest economy.
It’s a big market for blockbuster drug. More than half of Chinese people age 18 and older are obese or overweight, according to China’s National Health Commission.
Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic already received approval from China in 2021, but its patent on semaglutide, the active ingredient in both Wegovy and Ozempic, expires in the country in 2026. Rival drugmakers are also developing generic versions of both products.