According to Reuters, a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk confirmed on July 29 local time that the company has launched the weight-loss drug Wegovy in Germany, stating that "the first batch of German patients have already redeemed their prescriptions." The drug is already available in the United States but has so far only been sold in the smaller markets of Norway and Denmark within Europe.
Since the drug's market launch two years ago, Novo Nordisk's stock price has more than doubled, making the Danish pharmaceutical company the second-largest listed company in Europe, only after LVMH Group.
Public health insurance plans cover about 90% of Germans, but according to a decades-old law, these plans are not allowed to cover weight-loss drugs. Novo Nordisk's weight-loss drug starts at 170 euros per month.