A South African court has ordered a local pharmacy group to stop manufacturing and selling semaglutide-based medicines, handing Novo Nordisk an early legal victory in a dispute that highlights the growing global battle over weight-loss drugs.
The Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria granted an interim order preventing pharmacy group iDexis and its director from producing, supplying or marketing semaglutide products until regulators complete ongoing investigations and further legal proceedings are concluded.
The case centres on semaglutide, one of the world’s most sought-after pharmaceutical ingredients.
Semaglutide is the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic and weight-loss treatment Wegovy. Both medicines belong to a class of drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, which help regulate blood sugar levels and suppress appetite.
Their effectiveness in helping patients lose weight has fuelled soaring global demand and transformed obesity treatment into one of the fastest-growing segments of the pharmaceutical industry.
