France becomes first EU country to reimburse anti-obesity drugs

New Delhi ( Vivek Ojha) : France ⁠will reimburse the cost of weight-loss drugs prescribed to severely obese patients from mid-June in a first for a European Union country, Health Minister Stephanie Rist said recently. The reimbursement through France’s social security system, covering Wegovy and Mounjaro injectable treatments, ‌will be available for severely obese patients with a body mass index of at ⁠least 35 with ⁠at least one comorbidity, or a BMI of at least 40 regardless of comorbidities.

Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro medications have led a boom ‌in anti-obesity treatment, attracting interest from governments keen to address rising overweight levels worldwide.

The drugs will be ‌reimbursed at 65 per cent, though in practice the vast majority of eligible patients benefit from 100 per cent coverage due to comorbidities, she added.

Rist estimated the annual cost to the state at around €100 million (US$116 million) at full roll-out. Patients in France are currently paying around €300 per month on average for the drugs, she said, without indicating how many people currently follow such treatments.

The target population is around one million people. However, ⁠this does not mean that everyone will receive the treatment, as it always depends on the ‌individual case and the doctor’s prescription,” Rist said in an interview