Application for National Health Insurance for 'Half-Price' New Drug... Will Obesity Medication Prices Fall?

[Anchor]

A domestic pharmaceutical company has thrown down the gauntlet in the obesity treatment market dominated by Wegovy and Mounjaro. Hanmi Pharmaceutical's self-developed obesity treatment injection, 'Epe', is set to be released as early as this month. The supply price is around 130,000 won for a month's supply, which is about half the price of existing imported drugs. In addition, with the manufacturer of Wegovy applying for domestic national health insurance coverage for the drug, price competition in the obesity treatment market is expected to kick into high gear.

Reporter Han Sung-hee has the story.



[Reporter]

A pharmacy street in Jongno-gu, Seoul, known as a mecca for obesity treatments.

Footsteps continue to stream in from people looking to get their hands on Mounjaro or Wegovy for even a little cheaper.

[Kim Duk-young / Ilsan 3-dong, Goyang-si: I just came after hearing rumors around that the medicine is cheap. The cheapest I found before was 400,000 won, and (here) seems about 40,000 to 50,000 won cheaper.]

With a heavy financial burden from treatment costs exceeding hundreds of thousands of won, people are seeking out this place where they can acquire the drugs tens of thousands of won cheaper than in their own neighborhoods.

While cases of illegally smuggling obesity treatments from countries like Japan—where prices are lower than in South Korea—are surging, Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Wegovy, recently applied to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service for national health insurance coverage for Wegovy.

The number of domestic obesity treatment prescriptions skyrocketed from 50,000 cases in 2024 to 1.86 million cases in the first half of this year alone.

The pharmaceutical company explains that this measure is intended to broaden treatment opportunities for obesity patients.

Expectations are also rising that the treatment burden will be eased for patients with severe obesity who face high risks of chronic diseases or complications.

[Kim Yu-hyun / Professor of Family Medicine, CHA University Hospital: In reality, there are quite a lot of cases where people discontinue (treatment) because of the price. And while the efficacy actually gets better as you step up the dosage, some people cannot increase it sufficiently due to financial burdens.]

On the other hand, concerns are also being raised that this could deplete national health insurance finances, given the reality that medical institutions unrelated to obesity or diabetes have been prescribing obesity treatment injections for cosmetic purposes.

[Lee Soo-jin / Democratic Party lawmaker (during today's parliamentary audit): Reimbursement criteria must be set properly. Will you take this into good consideration when creating the guidelines?]

[Hong Seung-kwon / President of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service: Yes, we will take that into consideration.]

[Lee Soo-jin / Democratic Party lawmaker: I believe you will need to work together to ensure that financial resources are not leaked.]

In countries like France, national health insurance funds are allocated only to patients who genuinely need treatment, such as those with severe obesity, excluding simple weight loss purposes. Discussions on applying national health insurance to obesity treatments are expected to accelerate in South Korea as well.

(VJ: Shin So-young, Video Editing: Kim Jin-won)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.