Delivery rules for Wegovy eased in the EU

Weight-loss drug Wegovy can now be transported at temperatures of up to 30°C for as long as 48 hours within the EU, following a European Medicines Agency (EMA) approval update.

Previously, the distribution and delivery of Wegovy injections – otherwise known as semaglutide – was fully subject to cold chain distribution, meaning it had to be kept at 2–8°C from where it was made to where it was used.

Following the EMA approval, Wegovy has become the first GLP-1 weight-management drug in Europe with flexibility around cold-chain delivery.

According to the drug's manufacturer Novo Nordisk, the approval could simplify and lower delivery costs for pharmacies and online partners, while also improving supply chain efficiency.

Mike Doustdar, chief executive and president of Novo Nordisk, said: ‘Home delivery of medicines is growing rapidly, given the convenience of being able to receive your medicines at your doorstep, which we have come to expect from most other aspects of our lives.

‘People with obesity using prescription medicine may also face stigma, and we are therefore excited about the opportunity to reduce distribution complexity while further enabling discrete home delivery options.’

Novo Nordisk said that the approval reflected evolving industry practices, including the growing use of direct-to-patient distribution models such as delivery via online pharmacies and other non-traditional dispensing channels.

While no official changes to delivery requirements have been announced in the UK, Novo Nordisk told The Pharmacist that it has submitted the same request to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and is awaiting review. It was unable to provide any timeline for when a decision might be made.

Meanwhile, the MHRA has recently approved a new single-dose 7.2mg semaglutide pen to treat adult patients who have a body mass index (BMI) of 30kg/m² or higher.