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By Ludwig Burger
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Eli Lilly is in talks with the German government to try to end a ban on the public fitness formula for investing in weight-loss treatments, Spiegel magazine said on Monday, citing a corporate executive.
Representatives of the U. S. manufacturer of obesity and diabetes drugs are in a “good dialogue” with the federal government, Ilya Yuffa, president of Lilly International.
“I’m optimistic that we can come to an agreement,” he said in an interview with Spiegel, also citing the company’s commitment to make a large manufacturing investment in Germany.
Lilly’s weekly injection Mounjaro was approved in the European Union late last year for weight loss in certain overweight or obese patients, when combined with a reduced-calorie diet and exercise.
Mounjaro has noted staggered advances in the European market in Germany, Poland and Switzerland, with an entry into Britain expected in the coming weeks.
The launch comes as the growing popularity of Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, approved as a diabetes drug, has outpaced the company’s ability to ramp up production. The weekly injection is a low-dose edition of de Novo’s weight loss drug Wegovy, which is also in peak demand.
European governments have taken a restrictive line when it comes to investing in new weight-loss treatments, which has led to strains on fitness budgets, with Germany being one of the strictest.
Germany’s federal health ministry did not have an immediate comment.
Mounjaro was shown in one trial to help obese participants lose more weight than Wegovy.
Lilly will build its first factory in Germany, in the western city of Alzey, for 2. 3 billion euros ($2. 5 billion) to make drugs for diabetes and weight loss, Mounjaro said.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger, editing by Matthias Williams and Mark Potter)