(Yicai) June 28 -- Novo Nordisk will distribute existing Wegovy supplies across global markets, ensuring treatment continuity for patients, The Paper reported, following an earlier report that the Danish company will restrict sales of the hit weight-loss drug in China after the country approved it this week.

Novo Nordisk will offer Wegovy in China after careful planning to ensure the continuity of treatment for patients who have already started treatment, The Paper reported today, citing the Wegovy and Ozempic maker’s Chinese arm.

A huge unmet medical need exists in the field of obesity care, the pharmaceutical company said, pointing out that there is huge demand for its portfolio of semaglutide injections, designed for blood sugar management among type-2 diabetics and the obese.

Demand is expected to surge after China’s National Medical Products Administration gave the green light on June 25 for Novo Nordisk to sell Wegovy for weight loss in the country. The drug was approved for diabetes treatment in China in April 2021 under the trade name Ozempic.

Wegovy, a pioneering glucagon-like peptide-1 medicine, is intended for weekly injections to manage long-term weight loss, with patients generally losing 17 percent on average.

Senior executives at Novo Nordisk previously told local media that the Bagsværd-based company’s initial supply of Wegovy in China would not affect global supply.

Global production shortages should ease as the firm announced on June 25 that it would spend USD4.1 billion to build a new plant in North Carolina in the United States to increase its output of Wegovy and Ozempic.

From January to March, sales of Wegovy more than doubled to DKK9.4 billion (USD1.3 billion) from a year ago, according to the company’s first-quarter earnings report.

Editor: Emmi Laine