[Anchor]

Domestic pharmaceutical companies are challenging the obesity treatment market dominated by Wegovy and Mounjaro. Hanmi Pharmaceutical's developed obesity treatment injection "Efpe" is set to be released as early as this month. The supply price is around 130,000 won for a 30-day supply, which is about half the price of existing imported drugs. Furthermore, as the manufacturer of Wegovy has applied for national health insurance coverage for the drug in Korea, price competition in the obesity treatment market is expected to intensify.

Reporter Han Sung-hee has the story.

[Reporter]

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

People continue to visit in search of Mounjaro or Wegovy at even slightly lower prices.

[Kim Duk-young / Ilsan 3-dong, Goyang-si: I just heard rumors from people around that the medicine is cheap, so I came. The cheapest I found elsewhere was 400,000 won, and (this place) seems about 40,000 to 50,000 won cheaper.]

With the cost of treatments exceeding hundreds of thousands of won imposing a heavy burden, people are flocking to this area where they can get them tens of thousands of won cheaper than in their local neighborhoods.

Cases of smuggling obesity treatments from countries like Japan, where prices are lower than in Korea, are also increasing significantly. Meanwhile, 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 surged 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 expand treatment opportunities for obesity patients.

Expectations are rising that the financial burden will be reduced, especially 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. While the efficacy actually improves as you step up the dosage, there are also individuals who cannot increase it sufficiently due to the cost burden.]

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

[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 making 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: You will need to work together to ensure that financial resources do not leak.]

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

(Video Journalist: Shin So-young | Video Editing: Kim Jin-won)