Novo Nordisk has spent at least USD 25.8m over the past decade paying US healthcare professionals to promote the company’s weight loss drugs, reports the news agency Reuters based on data from US authorities.

The amount includes payments related to Wegovy or Saxenda.

According to Reuters, it is both legal and common practice for pharmaceutical companies to pay doctors to promote and advise on drugs.

In total, at least 57 US doctors have accepted payments of at least USD 100,000 from Novo Nordisk in connection with one of the two drugs between 2013 and 2022.

41 of them, writes Reuters, were obesity specialists who ran weight management clinics, worked at university hospitals, developed obesity treatment guidelines or held top positions in medical organizations.

The money is paid as fees for presentations and consulting services or to cover travel, food and beverage expenses.

According to Reuters, the payments from Novo Nordisk are part of a campaign to convince US doctors to make Wegovy one of the most widely used drugs in history.

Both Wegovy and Saxenda are weight loss drugs produced by Danish Novo Nordisk.

Saxenda, the older of the two, contains the active ingredient liraglutide. In Wegovy, the active ingredient is semaglutide.

Semaglutide is also the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic.

Reuters has not included payments related to Ozempic. Money for research is also not included.

The sale of both Wegovy and Ozempic has helped accelerate earnings in the Danish pharmaceutical company.

In the first nine months of 2023, the company had a revenue of DKK 166bn (USD 24bn). This is 29% more than the year before.

This is mainly due to growing demand in North America, where the company’s sales have increased 46% in the first three quarters of the year compared to the same period in 2022.

(Translated using DeepL with additional editing by Kristoffer Grønbæk)