Understand the high prices of slimming pens – 03/08/2023 – Balance

In the last year, injectable diabetes drugs like Ozempic and Saxenda have gone viral on social media as allies in the treatment of obesity. But its application is not economical. Medicines cost between R$ 600 and R$ 1,000.

A new option for the so-called “slimming pens”, Wegovy, authorized to treat obesity, may reach Brazilian pharmacies in 2024 with a price above R$ 2,000. Mounjaro, which is seeking approval to be marketed in the country, is sold at US$ 1,000 in the United States (R$ 4,790 in the current conversion).

The high cost has to do with the use of a new technology that is not yet available in the SUS (Unified Health System), according to endocrinologist Levimar Rocha, president of the SBD (Brazilian Society of Diabetes).

“Unfortunately, when there is new technology, it is the industry that sets the price, and they still have a patent and don’t have much competition”, says Rocha.

Novo Nordisk has a patent for semaglutide, the active ingredient of Ozempic and Wegovy, until the end of 2024. After that, pharmaceutical companies will be able to produce generic drugs.

The patent is a temporary exclusive right, which guarantees the original manufacturer of the medicine to be the only one to exploit it economically during a period.

The specialist in copyright Luiz Friggi, professor of Business Law at Mackenzie, says that the high value in the case of drugs seeks to reach the profit projected by the pharmaceutical industry, covering the research and development costs carried out by the laboratories.

According to him, it is likely that prices will decrease after the pharmaceutical companies lose their patents, since generic manufacturers will have lower costs and greater competition among themselves.

This does not mean, however, that the treatment will necessarily be cost-effective. The calculation of the drug price ceiling in Brazil follows rules previously defined in resolutions of the Medicines Market Regulation Chamber (CMED), which is the body of Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) responsible for the subject.

These rules take into account the innovative character or not of the product and the price charged in other reference countries.

CMED considers new products to be drugs with a new molecule in the country, which are divided into five price categories. In all categories, the lowest prices practiced in other countries or the average of the values ​​of other presentations of the medicine in Brazil, with the same concentration and same form, are considered.