Two types of injectable medication created earlier by Novo Nordisk, Wegovy and Ozempic, turn out to have several unexpected impacts that are beneficial to the human body.

Founded in 1923, Novo Nordisk is a Danish pharmaceutical company that studies and develops innovative medicine for several diseases.

The company has highly aimed to solve one of the most problematic health issues to mankind: obesity.

Obesity is a major factor that could potentially trigger crucial diseases such as diabetes or heart disease to occur.

It is estimated that approximately 1 billion people will be affected by obesity by 2030.

To counter this problematic health issue, Novo Nordisk has propelled in creating a new effective medication, which is Wegovy.

Wegovy was first approved by the US in 2021, and was approved by the EU in the following year.

Ozempic, another medication created by Novo Nordisk a few years before, was primarily a treatment for diabetes.

However, it was later on proven to also be effective in reducing obesity.

There were no straightforward cures for obesity in the past except for bariatric surgery, which included potential side-effects and was highly expensive.

Therefore, the use of Wegovy and Ozempic, which is an easier and more effective solution that could reduce about 10 to 15 percent of one’s weight, has already been gathering interest from medical science areas.

However, it has recently been proven that these two medications could in fact also significantly prevent the risk of heart diseases, diabetes, and many more.

According to Novo Nordisk, Wegovy could cut off about 20 percent of the possibility for a heart attack to occur.

Other experts, such as Fatima Cody Stanford at Harvard Medical School, claim that the medications created by the company could also contribute to the reduction of possibilities for fatty liver diseases or kidney diseases to occur.

The sales of Wegovy and Ozempic have been a success ever since they were approved, and it is estimated that the sales will exponentially increase in the upcoming future.

The sales of Wegovy are expected to reach 4.2 billion dollars this year, and jump to 7.3 billion dollars in 2024.

The sales of Ozempic, which are higher than Wegovy, are reaching 13.3 billion dollars this year and are expected to surpass 16.5 billion dollars in 2024.

Comments or interviews from celebrities, such as Kim Kardashian or Sharon Osbourne, about the effectiveness of these medications are also a factor that has affected the increase of sales, as well as the interest from the people.

Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, CEO of Novo Nordisk that took a major role in creating the medications, claims that there are still minor side-effects of Wegovy and Ozempic that must be improved, such as diarrhea or constipation.

Nevertheless, Jørgensen also insisted that he feels very comfortable in taking huge risks, and therefore the company is currently conducting research to discover whether the components from the obesity medications could also be used as a treatment for other health issues, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Shi hyoung Lee

Grade 10

Berlin Brandenburg International School