Novo Nordisk sues two pharmacies
The slimming injection Wegovy from the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is considered to be particularly effective in the fight against obesity, alongside Ozempic. Now the pharmaceutical company is suing two pharmacies in Florida. They are alleged to have added an illegal substance that not only limits the effectiveness of the drug.
The Danish drug manufacturer Novo Nordisk has sued pharmacies in Florida for selling contaminated Wegovy. According to the company, some products containing the active ingredient of the hyped obesity drug had impurities of up to 33 percent.
The drugs tested were from Wells Pharmacy and Brooksville Pharmaceuticals, all of which were found to be contaminated. The two pharmacies based in Florida are so-called "compounding pharmacies", pharmacies with a license to manufacture their own medicines. Due to the impurities, the compounded versions of Wegovy from Brooksville would have been less effective than stated, in one case at least 19 percent weaker.
Specifically, the samples from Wells would have contained the substance BPC-157. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the use of BPC-157 in medicines in September due to uncertainties about its efficacy and potential health risks. Novo Nordisk claims that the addition of the substance is responsible for reduced efficacy.
"Compounded products do not have the same guarantees of safety, quality and efficacy as FDA-approved drugs," said Novo manager Jason Brett. They could pose significant health risks to patients. With the lawsuit, Novo wants to prevent the two pharmacies from continuing to sell contaminated products under the Wegovy label.
Source: www.ntv.de
