Semagludite for 3 dollars

[Teretere]

Weight-loss jab could be made for $3 a month, study finds

Cheap semaglutide, the drug in Ozempic and Wegovy, could help millions with diabetes and obesity in 160 countries

www.theguardian.com

Really good news covered by the Grauniad. I was surprised there were no patents in Africa!

 

[Grogu]

Articles like this remind me of how f’d up somethings can be in the US. Our patent laws allow big companies to extend and extend their patents through various means and Americans keep paying and paying…. And even when a medication’s patent expires, collusion and corporate greed maintain artificially high prices.

For example, Liraglutide’s patent expired in 2024, cheap in India, but still several hundred dollars per month here…. Generic pharmaceutical grade sema will never be truly “cheap” here, ever.

 

[HereKittyKitty]

Agreed.

I get it they invest billions of dollars in research, some of which never make it out of the lab or never make it to patients. But, really...

 

[Raptorrunner]

Big pharma will continue to create patent thickets involving various aspects of these products in order to evergreen their stranglehold on the market and the milk every dollar out of the public.

 

[Grogu]

Big pharma will continue to create patent thickets involving various aspects of these products in order to evergreen their stranglehold on the market and the milk every dollar out of the public.

And legislative support for the crackdown on peptides is probably due to lobbying by Big Pharma.

 

[yrrdead]

And legislative support for the crackdown on peptides is probably due to lobbying by Big Pharma.

I think you can safely remove the word "probably"

 

[DjJoshua]

Articles like this remind me of how f’d up somethings can be in the US. Our patent laws allow big companies to extend and extend their patents through various means and Americans keep paying and paying…. And even when a medication’s patent expires, collusion and corporate greed maintain artificially high prices.

For example, Liraglutide’s patent expired in 2024, cheap in India, but still several hundred dollars per month here…. Generic pharmaceutical grade sema will never be truly “cheap” here, ever.

Big Pharma's weight-loss game is straight-up Las Vegas on steroids, those massive, glittering casinos didn't get built because gamblers walked out winners every night. Nah, the house always wins in the long run, and the flashing lights just keep the suckers... er, patients... coming back for more.

 

[Grogu]

Big Pharma's weight-loss game is straight-up Las Vegas on steroids, those massive, glittering casinos didn't get built because gamblers walked out winners every night. Nah, the house always wins in the long run, and the flashing lights just keep the suckers... er, patients... coming back for more.

At least a casino doesn't pretend to be looking out for your health .

 

[woundcarping]

At least a casino doesn't pretend to be looking out for your health .

I dunno, I just had a “Wellness check” which I found annoying.

 

[indolent]

Weird that this article states $200/month for semaglutide in the US. I'm pretty sure that (regardless of payer) it's still >$1K/month, disregarding short-term startup discounts.

 

[GalloB73]

Agreed.

I get it they invest billions of dollars in research, some of which never make it out of the lab or never make it to patients. But, really...

I'll just leave this here... Yes that is billion.

Eli Lilly reported a very strong full-year 2025, with revenue of $65.2 billion (a 45% increase from 2024) and a net profit of $20.6 billion . Growth was primarily driven by high demand for diabetes and obesity drugs, specifically Mounjaro and Zepbound, which together brought in $36.5 billion

 

[HereKittyKitty]

I think you can safely remove the word "probably"

You can safely remove "think" too.

 

[HereKittyKitty]

Weird that this article states $200/month for semaglutide in the US. I'm pretty sure that (regardless of payer) it's still >$1K/month, disregarding short-term startup discounts.

You didn't read the fine print.

It read: Monthly cost of semaglutide in the US is stated in 1901 dollars.