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Wegovy launch: Expert suspects Pharmac will fund drug eventually

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 1 Jul 2025, 6:08pm
Wegovy has a US list price of more than $US1300 a month. Photo / Cydni Elledge
Wegovy has a US list price of more than $US1300 a month. Photo / Cydni Elledge

Wegovy launch: Expert suspects Pharmac will fund drug eventually

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 1 Jul 2025, 6:08pm

There's expectations weight-loss drug Wegovy will eventually be funded publicly, according to experts.

It's become available from pharmacies under prescription - from today.

It's not funded by Pharmac, and costs about $500 dollars per month. 

Auckland University population nutrition professor, Boyd Swinburn, says that is unaffordable for the public purse.

"When the first generation of these drugs come off patent, their price will drop enormously and that will give Pharmac a chance to really negotiate the price."

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