'Wegovy' dominating the South Korean obesity drug market

Wegovy sales amount to KRW 79.4B…surpassed KRW 100B in just 6 months Wegovy

Saxenda's sales declined sharply due to market presence changes·supply shortage…Saxenda's Q1 sales 72%↓

Novo Nordisk's Wegovy has dominated the South Korean obesity treatment market, establishing a monopolistic competition with over 70% market share.

 

In just six months since its launch in Korea, Wegovy generated a sensation, surpassing KRW 100 billion in cumulative sales.

 

Wegovy's success has expanded the obesity drug market to its largest size ever, while sales of Saxenda, which previously led the market, sharply declined.

 

According to pharmaceutical market research firm IQVIA, on May 26, the obesity drug market reached KRW 108.6 billion in the first quarter of this year, a 162.3% increase compared to KRW 41.4 billion in the same period last year.

 

This is the first time the quarterly obesity drug market size has exceeded KRW 100 billion.

 

Quarterly Obesity Treatment Market Size and Key Product Sales.

 

Legend: Bars-obesity market, Black-Wegovy, Purple-Qsymia, Green-Saxenda (Unit: KRW 100 million, Source: IQVIA)

Novo Nordisk's Wegovy clearly stood out.

 

In the first quarter, Wegovy's sales recorded KRW 79.4 billion, accounting for a dominant 73.2% of the entire obesity drug market.

 

Wegovy, which was approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Administration (MFDS) in April 2023, is a GLP-1 analogue containing semaglutide, known to reduce HbA1c.

 

Novo Nordisk developed Wegovy as a once-weekly obesity treatment using semaglutide after observing weight loss effects in patients during clinical trials of GLP-1 class diabetes drug candidates.

 

Wegovy gained immense popularity immediately after its domestic launch in October last year.

 

Despite its high price, prescription demand surged due to its significant weight loss efficacy.

 

Wegovy's sales reached KRW 60.3 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, propelling it to the top of the obesity drug market.

 

The obesity drug market size was KRW 47.4 billion in the third quarter of last year, but it soared by 97.9% to KRW 93.8 billion in just one quarter following Wegovy's launch.

 

Wegovy held a 63.4% market share in the obesity drug market in the fourth quarter of last year, and its share has continued to rise this year.

 

Under six months since its domestic release, Wegovy's cumulative sales reached KRW 139.8 billion, exceeding KRW 100 billion.

 

Wegovy is thriving globally due to its groundbreaking weight loss effects.

 

Wegovy's sales last year reached DKK 58.26 billion (approximately KRW 11.7 trillion), an 85.7% increase from DKK 31.343 billion in 2023.

 

Demand for Wegovy surged to the point of shortages after its launch in the U.S.

 

market.

 

Even before its domestic launch, Wegovy gained global fame for shortages, having been rumored as the weight loss secret of international celebrities like Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

 

Despite its high price of around KRW 500,000, Wegovy gained explosive interest immediately after its domestic release, leading to supply shortages.

 

Even with the suspension of non-face-to-face prescriptions, demand for Wegovy continued to rise.

 

Initially, Wegovy was actively prescribed through non-face-to-face medical consultations.

 

When concerns were raised that Wegovy was being indiscriminately prescribed via non-face-to-face consultations regardless of a person's weight or obesity status, health authorities suspended non-face-to-face prescriptions for obesity treatments from December 16 of last year.

 

The introduction of Wegovy has led to a reduction in sales of Saxenda and Qsymia, which previously dominated the obesity drug market.

 

The presence of Novo Nordisk's Saxenda has significantly declined in the obesity drug market.

 

Saxenda's first-quarter sales were KRW 4.2 billion, down 72.3% from KRW 15.1 billion in the same period last year.

 

Compared to its KRW 24.2 billion sales in the second quarter of last year, its sales have sharply declined to less than 20%.

 

Saxenda, launched in Korea in 2018, was the world's first obesity drug approved as a GLP-1 analog.

 

Saxenda's active ingredient, liraglutide, is identical to Victoza's, prescribed for type 2 diabetes patients, differing only in dosage and administration.

 

The analysis suggests that Wegovy, a GLP-1 class drug similar to Saxenda, has further taken Saxenda's market.

 

With reduced domestic supply since Wegovy's launch, there are rumors of Saxenda's production being discontinued.

 

After becoming the obesity treatment market leader with sales of KRW 42.6 billion immediately after its launch in 2019, Saxenda maintained its lead for five consecutive years until 2023.

 

Saxenda's sales reached KRW 66.8 billion in 2023, accounting for 37.5% of the obesity treatment market that year.

 

However, following the introduction of Wegovy, Saxenda's sales sharply declined, and its market share in the first quarter of this year was only 3.8%.

 

The first-quarter sales of Alvogen Korea's Qsymia decreased by 3.9% year-on-year to KRW 8.6 billion.

 

Launched in late 2019, Qsymia is a combination drug containing 'phentermine' and 'topiramate'.

 

Alvogen Korea secured domestic marketing rights from U.S.-based Vivus in 2017.

 

Alvogen Korea entered a co-promotion agreement with Chong Kun Dang in late 2019 and began full-scale sales in Korea.

 

Qsymia recorded KRW 10.2 billion in sales in the third quarter of last year but fell to 9.3 billion KRW in the fourth quarter, when Wegovy was launched, and has further decreased this year.