The World Health Organization has recommended the use of novel weight-loss drugs to curb soaring obesity rates, and urged pharma companies to lower their prices and expand production so that lower-income countries can also benefit. The WHO’s new treatment guideline includes a conditional recommendation to use the so-called GLP-1s — such as Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro — as part of a wider approach that includes healthy diet, exercise and support from doctors. The WHO described its recommendation as “conditional” due to limited data on the long-term efficacy and safety of GLP-1s. The recommendation excludes pregnant women. While GLP-1s are a now well-established treatment in high-income countries, the WHO warns they could reach fewer than 10 percent of people who could benefit by 2030. Among the countries with the highest rates of obesity are those in the Middle East, Latin America and Pacific islands. Meanwhile, Wegovy was only available in around 15 countries as of the start of this year. The WHO wants pharma companies to consider tiered pricing (lower prices in lower-income countries) and voluntary licensing of patents and technology to allow other producers around the word to manufacture GLP-1s, to help expand access to these drugs. Jeremy Farrar, an assistant director general at the WHO, told POLITICO the guidelines would also give an “amber and green light” to generic drugmakers to produce cheaper versions of GLP-1s when the patents expire. Francesca Celletti, a senior adviser on obesity at the WHO, told POLITICO “decisive action” was needed to expand access to GLP-1s, citing the example of antiretroviral HIV drugs earlier this century. “We all thought it was impossible … and then the price went down,” she said.  Key patents on semaglutide, the ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, will lift in some countries next year, including India, Brazil and China. Indian generics giant Dr. Reddy’s plans to launch a generic semaglutide-based weight-loss drug in 87 countries in 2026, its CEO Erez Israeli said earlier this year, reported Reuters. “U.S. and Europe will open later … (and) all the other Western markets will be open between 2029 to 2033,” Israeli told reporters after the release of quarterly earnings in July. Prices should fall once generics are on the market, but that isn’t the only barrier. Injectable drugs, for example, need cold chain storage. And health systems need to be equipped to roll out the drug once it’s affordable, Celletti said. 

LONDON — Milkshakes and lattes will be subject to a sugar tax for the first time, U.K. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Tuesday. Speaking ahead of the budget, Streeting said the government would remove the exemption that milk-based products currently have from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy in January 2028. The threshold at which the levy is imposed will also be lowered from 5 grams to 4.5 grams (g) per 100 milliliters (ml). Commonly dubbed the “sugar tax,” the levy, which was introduced in 2018 under the previous Conservative government, aims to reduce obesity and improve child health.  “Obesity robs children of the best possible start in life,” Streeting told MPs Tuesday. “It hits the poorest hardest — sets them up for a lifetime of problems.” Bottles and cartons of milkshakes, flavored milk,  sweetened yoghurt drinks, chocolate milk drinks, ready-to-drink coffees and milk substitute drinks will now be eligible for the levy. Drinks prepared in cafes and bars remain out of scope. The levy requires companies producing drinks that contain between 5g and 8g of sugar per 100ml to pay 19.4 pence per liter while drinks with 8g or more of sugar must pay 25.9 pence per liter. A government document published Tuesday said ministers expect the Treasury to raise between £40 million and £45 million a year as a result of the changes. The average sugar content in drinks has fallen by almost 50 percent since the levy’s introduction. It is associated with a fall in rotten tooth extractions in kids and an estimated 8 percent relative reduction in obesity levels among young girls. Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of the King’s Fund health think tank, said the measure was “not only common sense but also a quick win for government and, most importantly, for children and young people.”

Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk is to lay off 9,000 of its staff, with 5,000 of those coming from its sites in Denmark, the company announced today. The firm has around 78,400 staff worldwide; the redundancies account for 11.5 percent of its workforce. “It is always difficult to see talented and valued colleagues go, but we are convinced that this is the right thing to do for the long-term success of Novo Nordisk,” CEO Mike Doustdar said.  “By realigning our resources now, we will be able to prioritise investments to drive sustainable growth and future innovation for the millions of patients with chronic diseases globally, particularly in diabetes and obesity.” It’s one of Doustdar’s first moves as head of the company after he replaced Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen earlier this year. Jørgensen, who had helmed the Danish drugmaker for eight years, saw Novo become Europe’s most valuable company under his leadership. But the firm saw its share price tumble over the past year amid increased competition in the weight-loss drug market from Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro, and disappointing trial results for its next-generation treatments. “Our markets are evolving, particularly in obesity, as it has become more competitive and consumer-driven. Our company must evolve as well,” Doustdar said. The company said the layoffs would mean a one-off cost of 8 billion danish krone (€1.07 billion) It now expects full-year operating profit growth of 4 percent to 10 percent, down from the 10 percent to 16 percent outlined in August.

Fake weight-loss drugs are increasingly being advertised and sold across the EU, posing a serious public health threat, the bloc’s drugs regulator warned today. The European Medicines Agency said there has been a “sharp rise” in the number of illegal medicines marketed and sold as GLP-1 agonists, such as the popular semaglutide, liraglutide and tirzepatide, in recent months. Authorities have identified hundreds of sham Facebook profiles, advertisements and e-commerce listings promoting the fake drugs. These websites often mislead customers by using official logos and false endorsements, the EMA said. While genuine versions under the brand names Wegovy, Ozempic, Saxenda and Mounjaro are available through legitimate health services and with a prescription, the fake versions are “not authorised and do not meet necessary standards of quality, safety and efficacy,” the agency said. “Such illegal products pose a serious risk to public health. They may not contain the claimed active substance at all and may contain harmful levels of other substances,” the EMA warned. “People who use these products are therefore at a very high risk of treatment failure, unexpected and serious health problems and dangerous interactions with other medicines.”