German public health body signals lenience in Wegovy insurance coverage
FRANKFURT, March 22 (Reuters) - A key German drug reimbursement body has said that regulation banning the nation's health insurance system from paying for weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy will not apply in the case of other approved uses of the weekly injection.
The guidance, posted online late on Thursday by health agency G-BA for Europe's largest national drug market, is among the first signs that a push by drugmaker Novo Nordisk to widen insurance coverage in Europe - by showing health benefits beyond weight loss - is working out.
The European Union's drug regulator has been reviewing wider use of highly popular Wegovy to include reducing the risk of strokes and heart attacks, adding to the previously-approved use to tackle obesity. (Reporting by Ludwig Burger; editing by Matthias Williams)
