The World Health Organization (WHO) could for the first time include drugs to combat obesity in its “essential medicines list,” which is used to guide the purchasing decisions of governments in low- and middle-income countries.
Obesity is a disease that causes more than 200 pathologies, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and some types of cancer, and the numbers worldwide speak volumes about the need to address the disease: more than 650 million adults worldwide are obese, more than triple the rate of 1975, and approximately another 1.3 billion are overweight, according to the WHO.
The majority of them, 70%, live in low- and middle-income countries. Moreover, the number of overweight people is expected to climb to 1.9 billion by 2035.
A WHO advisory panel will review the new drug applications to be included next month, with an updated list of essential medicines due in September. The application to consider drugs to treat obesity as essential was submitted by three physicians and a researcher in the United States. The drug is used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and against overweight and obesity, depending on the case and medical indication.
The drug covered by the application is the active ingredient liraglutide in Novo Nordisk’s obesity drug Saxenda, whose patent is about to expire, allowing for cheaper generic versions. The panel could reject the application or wait for more evidence. A WHO decision to list Saxenda and eventual generics would mark a new approach to global obesity by the health agency.
It could also pave the way for a newer, more potent treatment from Novo Nordisk called Wegovy, which will be recommended for low- and middle-income countries in the future.