In China, as in many other countries, slimness is an oft-promoted beauty standard. But the actual statistics in the country, with more than half the population classified as overweight, tell a different story. This is good news for Novo Nordisk’s obesity drug Wegovy. 

Wegovy, which contains the active ingredient semaglutide, has been approved in China for long-term weight management for overweight and obese people. The Danish drugmaker has little competition and massive demand it can take advantage of.

The supply of drugs containing semaglutide has been highly controlled and limited in mainland China as, until now, they were approved only for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Even so, the market was valued at about $1.7bn last year, according to analytics group Clarivate. A severe shortage in the country has resulted in the drugs trading at well over double their prescription price on the black market.