Anvisa (Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency) has announced that it will provide an update in the coming weeks regarding the approval for the sale of two competitors to Ozempic and Wegovy, both of which are weight loss injections produced by Novo Nordisk that use semaglutide as their active ingredient. As the patent for semaglutide expires on March 20, there is a growing interest in the market for these alternative medications, although they are not yet officially registered in Brazil.

The agency cautioned that it is not guaranteed that the approvals will be granted, as there have been instances where additional data has been required from applicants or even cases where the entire request has been rejected. Currently, the medication reviews are in the final internal phase, and this decision will significantly impact the competitive landscape for weight loss drugs in Brazil, especially with the impending loss of patent protection for semaglutide.

One of the drugs under evaluation comes from EMS, the only national laboratory that has previously launched weight loss pens using liraglutide, which competes with Saxenda and Victoza. The second application, which is in an advanced stage, was initially submitted by Momenta, a company within the Eurofarma group, which stated that it has transferred the application process to Ávita Cabo.