Novo Nordisk says prescriptions for its Wegovy weight-loss pill have surpassed three million since launching in early January.

By Dominic Chopping Novo Nordisk said prescriptions for its Wegovy weight-loss pill have surpassed three million since launching in early January. The Danish drugmaker said late Sunday that the pill hit one million prescriptions 12 weeks after reaching U.S. pharmacies and online providers, with a further two million prescriptions achieved in the following 10 weeks. More than 80% of new prescriptions filled for the Wegovy pill are for patients new to the GLP-1 class of drugs, which the company says indicates that the new oral formulation is expanding the obesity treatment market, rather than replacing existing injectable therapies. Having initially launched the Wegovy pill in the U.S., Novo Nordisk last week announced the drug's launch in the United Arab Emirates and it said it is preparing further launches in the second half of the year. The drugmaker has also recently launched a higher-dose Wegovy weight-loss shot, and it said the drug has also demonstrated strong uptake in the early days of availability. Wegovy HD is a once-weekly injection that contains 7.2 milligrams of active ingredient semaglutide, which the company has said offers the highest weight-loss of any Wegovy injection so far. Prior to the launch of Wegovy HD, the highest available injectable dose was 2.4 milligrams of semaglutide. Write to Dominic Chopping at [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires 06-08-26 0233ET

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