thewayne: (Default)
The Wayne ([personal profile] thewayne) wrote2025-06-16 09:53 am
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Novo Nordisk loses patent in Canada over drug that underlies Ozempic - over $450!

That's $450.00, as in I can pull that out of an ATM pretty much any time. Not $450 million. A little under five hundred bucks, and they lost their lock on their second largest market.

The Slashdot summary says it best:
"Pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk forfeited patent protection for semaglutide -- the active ingredient in blockbuster diabetes and weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy -- in Canada after failing to pay a $450 maintenance fee in 2019. The company had paid maintenance fees through 2018 but requested a refund for the 2017 fee, apparently seeking more time to decide whether to continue protecting the patent.

When the 2019 fee came due at $450 with late penalties, Novo never paid despite having a one-year grace period. Canadian patent authorities confirmed the patent "cannot be revived" once lapsed. The oversight is particularly costly given Canada represents the world's second-largest semaglutide market, worth billions annually. Generic drugmaker Sandoz plans to launch a competing version in early 2026, while Novo's U.S. patent protection extends until at least 2032.


WOW. That's certainly going to tarnish some board member's CV. But it's going to make a bunch of Canadian's a lot thinner!

https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/novo-nordisk-s-canadian-mistake

https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/06/16/1438211/novo-nordisk-loses-canadian-patent-protection-for-blockbuster-diabetes-drug-over-unpaid-450-fee
disneydream06: (Disney Angry)

[personal profile] disneydream06 2025-06-17 05:41 am (UTC)(link)
ARGH.......