South Korea’s market for injectable weight-loss drugs is expanding, with Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy at the forefront, according to local reports on Monday.
While Novo Nordisk does not disclose product-level sales in Korea, data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service obtained by Rep. Kim Sun-min of the minor liberal opposition Rebuilding Korea Party, offers a glimpse into the drug’s rapid rise.
Between October 2024, when Wegovy first entered Korea, and June this year, doctors issued nearly 395,400 prescriptions through the national Drug Utilization Review system.
Under current law, physicians must check the DUR for drug information and patients’ medication histories before prescribing, making the data a reliable proxy for overall usage.
Experts caution, however, that prescription numbers do not directly equate to patient counts, as individuals may receive multiple prescriptions.
Even so, the growth has been striking: monthly prescriptions surged from about 11,000 at launch to nearly 89,000 in May before easing slightly in June.
This year’s monthly average has already topped 57,000, according to this data.
Industry trackers also report a similar surge in sales. According to IQVIA, Wegovy generated 213.3 billion won ($154 million) in revenue in the first half alone. In the second quarter, the firm estimates, Wegovy captured 82 percent of South Korea’s obesity drug market.
Meanwhile, competition is also intensifying. Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro, a drug with a more potent weight-loss effect, entered the Korean market last week.
ssh@heraldcorp.com
