All doctors now authorized to prescribe Wegovy, Mounjaro and Saxenda, three anti-obesity drugs
The French National Agency for the Safety of Medicines (ANSM) announced on Friday, June 20, that any doctor will be able to prescribe, for both initial and renewal use, the GLP-1 drugs Wegovy (semaglutide), Mounjaro (tirzepatide), and Saxenda (liraglutide) to treat obesity, starting June 23.
"This measure aims to facilitate more equitable access to these treatments, which are only available on prescription," the ANSM explains in a press release . Until now, the initial prescription of these drugs had to be issued by a doctor specializing in endocrinology-diabetology-nutrition, but renewals could be issued by any doctor.
The health authority warned at the end of May that it was considering expanding the conditions for prescribing and dispensing these highly sought-after drugs, from the GLP-1 analogue class, which promote weight loss (at least 15% for Wegovy and around 20% for Mounjaro), by mimicking a digestive hormone that sends a signal of satiety to the brain after eating. Obesity affects 8 million French people and can cause numerous health problems.
In its press release, it said that it had noted that "limiting the initial prescription to doctors specializing in endocrinology-diabetology-nutrition or those competent in nutrition may have hindered access for certain patients, due to sometimes significant delays in consulting a specialist."
These drugs are second-line treatments, meaning that they should only be prescribed "in the event of failure of nutritional management, and in combination with a low-calorie diet and physical activity" , recalls the ANSM.
Novo Nordisk and Mounjaro have filed a refund requestWegovy from the Danish laboratory Novo Nordisk and Mounjaro from its American competitor Eli Lilly have been marketed without reimbursement in France since 2024. Saxenda (Novo Nordisk) has been available at full patient expense since 2021.
"These drugs offer us a revolution in treating patients, but with the right initial support for eating disorders, for emotional eating," emphasized nutrition professor (APHP), Judith Aron, during a conference on Tuesday at the Ministry of Health. "It is possible to improve things through multidisciplinary and multimodal care," she insisted, but "is it necessary to treat early with drugs? I don't have the answer to that."
Danish insulin champion Novo Nordisk has filed a new reimbursement application for Wegovy with the French National Authority for Health (HAS) in light of new data. Its competitor Eli Lilly (Mounjaro), which also filed a new reimbursement application with the HAS in April, told Agence France-Presse that it will wait for the application to be evaluated "in the coming months" before negotiating a reimbursement price. In the meantime, the two major pharmaceutical groups repeatedly claim to be "able to meet demand" and "supply the French market and beyond."
GLP-1 type antiobesity drugs should "not be used for weight loss for cosmetic purposes, that is to say for weight loss in people who are not overweight or obese and who do not have health problems related to being overweight" , because these inappropriate uses can expose people to "sometimes serious adverse effects" , insists the ANSM.
The weight-loss properties of GLP-1, originally designed to treat diabetes, are being touted by celebrities and influencers on social media, creating a real craze for these drugs, seen by the public as the most effective way to quickly lose a few pounds.
"My fear, in terms of effectiveness and relevance, is that we will also have to learn to resist societal pressure," declared Pierre-Louis Druais, general practitioner and vice-president of the HAS recommendations committee, at the conference on Tuesday. The agency is thus maintaining "high vigilance on the use of these drugs and reinforced and continuous monitoring of the risks associated with GLP-1."
The World with AFP
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