Hims and his health announced on Wednesday will offer generic semaglutid in Canada as Novo NordiskThe patent of their Ozempic and Wegovy brand drugs will expire in January.
“Canada is a great opportunity to show how it can be affordable and high quality weight loss care,” said Andrew Dudum, co -founder and CEO of Hims & Hers, in a press release. “As the generic semaglutida is first available worldwide, we are focused on making it really accessible, when combining affordability with reliable and personalized care at scale.”
HIMS, a telesalud platform, joins a growing list of drug manufacturers that seek to take advantage of the expired patent from Novo Nordisk in its LPG-1. It is the first time that the company will operate in Canada.
The generic ones are essentially copies of a brand medication, such as Ozempic or Wagovy, which offer the same efficiency, follow the same safety standards and are allowed once a patent expires. These medications are different from the compound versions of medications, which are personalized treatments that are changed in form or provided at different dosing levels that commercially available doses.
The Canadian Semaglutidas market in 2024 generated revenues of $ 1.18 billion and is expected to reach $ 4.03 billion by 2035, according to the market firm of Market View Research.
There is still no generic version of Semaglutide in the market that has been approved by the Canadian Health Agency, but the approval process has begun for some in the industry.
Sandoz, a world leader in generic medicine manufacturing, told Science in early June that he requested the approval of a generic version of Semaglutide with the Canada Health Canada regulatory agency. HIMS did not say in his ad if a similar request for review has begun, but noticed that he is working with “an approved partner” to ensure that he follow all local laws and regulations.
Some in the industry have raised concerns by letting their patent lava, and occurs when Wagovy has lost ground to Eli LillyThe rival treatment, Zepbound, in the US.
This Hims announcement follows the closure of the recent acquisition of the Zava European Telesalud Platform, which expands the health platform in Europe to Ireland, France and Germany.
This also occurs after Novo Nordisk ended his collaboration with HEMS & Hers, citing concerns about sales and promotion of the cheapest imitations of his weight to lose weight.
How Novo lost his Canadian patent
According to the documents presented to the Canadian patent database, Novo had a patent for Semaglutide, but the last time the company paid the annual maintenance rate was in 2018.
Novo Nordisk's lawyers requested a refund for the 2017 paid maintenance rate of $ 250 Canadian dollars ($ 185) because the company wanted more time to see if it wanted to pay it, according to the letters included in the documents.
Two years later, the office sent a letter that said that the rate, which now included a late position, which took the total of CA $ 450, was not received by the prescribed expiration date.
Novo Nordisk had a period of grace of a year to pay, but he never did, so his patent lapó in Canada. Cordó in 2020 when the rate was not received, but it does not expire until January.
Canadian authorities confirmed in their correspondence that “once a patent has expired it cannot be revived.”
“Make the treatment of holistic and affordable obesity accessible has the potential to help strengthen the local health system and unlock the potential that millions of Canadians live healthier and more satisfying lives,” said David Meinertz, general manager of the International Hims & Hers business.
