Bill Gates and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) are exploring ways to make weight-loss drugs, like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro, more accessible in lower-income countries, global health figures told Reuters.
In separate interviews, Microsoft founder Gates and PAHO Director Dr. Jarbas Barbosa acknowledged the unequal availability of these highly effective but expensive treatments.
Approximately 70 percent of the roughly one billion people living with obesity reside in low- and middle-income countries, which may struggle to afford interventions to tackle the epidemic and related health issues such as diabetes and heart disease.
Responding to a question on whether the Gates Foundation would help make weight-loss treatments more accessible, Gates said, “probably.”
He highlighted the Foundation’s track record of taking medicines proven effective in high-income countries and figuring out “how to make it super, super cheap so that it can get to everyone in the world.”
For instance, the Foundation is currently collaborating with Indian drug manufacturer Hetero to bring lower-cost versions of a new HIV prevention drug to the market in lower-income countries at $40 per year.
A Gates Foundation spokesperson also noted that the organization is conducting early-stage research on the potential of weight-loss drugs to improve outcomes for women with gestational diabetes.
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From next year, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster Wegovy, semaglutide, will come off patent in countries including China and India, prompting generic manufacturers to work on low-cost copies.
Currently, brand-name weight-loss drugs are predominantly sold in wealthier nations, with prescriptions costing hundreds of dollars per month.
Gates said the Foundation could also support clinical trials to test how these medicines affect different populations and generate data necessary to expand access.
While any involvement in obesity represents a new area for the Gates Foundation, which primarily focuses on combating the deadliest diseases in low-income countries such as malaria, Gates noted that the growing role of obesity in chronic illness has created a new urgency, though it remains a secondary concern in most countries where the Foundation operates.
The World Health Organization estimates that the economic costs of overweight and obesity could reach $3 trillion by 2030 if left unaddressed.
Earlier this year, WHO recommended in draft guidelines that weight-loss drugs be used to treat obesity in adults, while criticizing their manufacturers for high costs and limited availability.
PAHO, which manages a fund that helps reduce medicine prices by guaranteeing bulk orders for its 35 member states, sees the fund as a potential option for making weight-loss drugs more affordable.
Barbosa told Reuters that the fund could also assist manufacturers in navigating regulatory requirements, avoiding the need to apply for approval in each country individually.
“We are starting the conversation,” he said, adding that PAHO is developing recommendations for optimal use of the drugs and plans to meet with Novo, Lilly, and generic drugmakers within the next few weeks.
Eli Lilly declined to comment. Novo Nordisk acknowledged in a statement the “unmet need” for its treatments and said, “We are deeply committed to serving patients around the world.”
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Image Credit: Reuters
