The new treatments for obesity were added to the list of its basic drugs. WHERE and recommended the new generation of successful therapies against obesity and diabetes while seeking cheaper generic versions for developing countries to be available
The World Health Organization (WHO) today recommended (9.9.2025), for the first time, the new generation of successful therapies against obesity and diabetes, while demanding cheaper generic versions for developing countries.
The one who added the semglutide -The active ingredient of the OZEMPIC and Wegovy of the Danish pharmaceutical industry Novo Nordisk -, the dulaglutide and laraglutideas well as the turzepatide – used in Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro formulation – in the list of its basic medicines, which is updated every two years.
Based on the body’s data, more than 3.7 million people died in 2021 from diseases associated with obesity – more than those who died of basic, deadly infectious diseases, malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS together.
New treatments for diabetes and obesity enhance the action of a hormone that affects the secretion of insulin (GLP-1) and in general the feeling of satiety.
Initially these formulations were developed for diabetes, but have shown remarkable results in weight loss and are considered by experts a significant therapeutic progress, despite restrictions.
However, their high price, which may exceed $ 1,000 a month in the US, “restricts access to these formulations,” observed the concern that low -income countries would be deprived of them.
In order to ensure that these “saving” injectable treatments will reach those who need them most, the who has called for “to encourage competition through generic drugs to reduce prices”.
According to Andrew Hill, a pharmacology researcher at the University of Liverpool, studies show that the Genius semaglutide could be massively produced in India at just $ 4 per month.
Semaglutidis’s patent will end in 2026 In some countries, including Canada, India and China, which could also encourage generic drug production.
In addition to diabetes and obesity these preparations appear to be linked to Improvement of various pathologies.
According to a report published this week in the journal Jama, the risk of hospitalization or premature death decreases by 40% in patients with heart problems and taking these medicines.
More than a billion people worldwide were affected by obesity and more than 800 million in 2022, according to WHO.