Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is seeking to convince European governments to pay for obesity drug Wegovy, designed for people who are overweight or have co-morbidities, its chief executive said on Friday, highlighting both the medical benefits and the cost of the treatment.

CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen’s comments were the most detailed yet on the drugmaker’s strategy to expand in Europe, where most countries have public health systems.

“In Europe, we’re looking to get reimbursement for those patients with the highest BMI who have co-morbidities and maybe also those who are less fortunate from a socio-economic point of view,” he told the Reuters Newsmaker event, adding that such people often are “one of the largest spenders in health care systems.”

Wegovy, an effective weight loss drug that is also starting to be released in Europe

Wegovy is the first drug to enter the market in a new class of highly effective weight loss products.

Last month, Novo launched Wegovy in Germany, its first major European market. Wegovy is also available in Norway and Denmark.

Combined with dietary changes and exercise, this results in an average weight loss of about 15%.

The self-administered drug has transformed the market valuation of Novo, whose shares have risen about 165% since launching Wegovy in the US two years ago.

It has also attracted the attention of patients, investors and even celebrities.

Earlier this month, the Danish drugmaker raised its full-year profit and sales forecast for the second time.

Jorgensen said Novo Nordisk, now the second most valuable in Europe, was in uncharted territory.

“It’s a very unusual situation for a drug company because usually when you launch a drug, you have a relatively well-defined population that you’re going to serve,” Jorgensen said.

“One billion patients worldwide”

“We’re dealing with maybe a billion patients worldwide,” he said, adding that “it will take a few years” before the company can cater to the entire market.

Analysts estimate the obesity market could be worth $100 billion by the end of the decade as the race to develop weight-loss drugs rages on.

Leaders Novo and its American competitor Eli Lilly and Co. can claim the lion’s share.

Amgen, Pfizer and smaller biotech companies are also developing weight loss drugs.

Wegovy’s great success in the US

Since launching in June 2021, Wegovy has been flying off the shelves in the United States, where more than 40% of the population is obese.

But Novo is struggling to keep up with demand despite increased production capacity.

This experience, as well as subsequent launches in Denmark and Norway, taught the company that it is important to work with health authorities to bring Wegovy to the patients who need it most, as governments will not be able to pay for every one of their obese populations to take the drug.

“We see that the demand for drugs is so high that we really have to be more decisive about how we reach the patients we want to reach and how we work with health systems,” Jorgensen said.

But for now, it seems many people are willing to pay for Wegovy out of pocket, he added.

Jorgensen said Novo would introduce Wegovy in other countries, but did not say where or when, adding that he was “trying to limit all these launches” to make them manageable.

Earlier this month, a large, late-stage study showed Wegovy also has clear cardiovascular benefits, boosting Novo’s hopes of positioning it as more than a lifestyle drug.

Jorgensen said that in recent weeks, regulators and doctors have reached out to the company to “understand more about what this data means.”

Other positive heart data was also released on Friday.

The study’s results could help convince cost-conscious US insurers and health authorities in Europe to cover the cost of the weekly injection, which costs $1,300 a month in the United States, for more patients.

Novo also had problems with the contract manufacturer.

Reuters reported in July that the Catalent factory in Brussels, which fills Wegovy’s syringes, had repeatedly violated U.S. safety rules for sterility in recent years, with staff failing to carry out required quality checks.

Jorgensen said he is confident Catalent will solve its problems and that by 2024 it hopes to have a third outside facility to fill and process syringes.