September 6, 2023: On Monday, The Danish pharmaceutical firm stated that the weekly injection would be available initially via a restrained and limited launch,” with only certain patients eligible to obtain the drug on the country’s National Health Service.

To qualify for therapy, patients must be on the NHS’s weight management service, have about one weight-related condition, and have a body mass index of 35, according to the National Institute for Care and Excellence.

The drug will also be available privately through a “registered healthcare professional,” Novo Nordisk expressed without adding further detail.

Novo Nordisk refused to broadcast the last price agreed with NHS England for the drug but stated that NICE, the U.K. drug cost-effectiveness watchdog, had presented it as a “cost-effective use of NHS resources.” It added that the cost in the private market will be “determined by licensed prescribers.”

In the U.S., Wegovy has a list expense of $1,350 for a monthly dose; in Europe, it retails for about 170 to 300 euros per month.

On Monday, British insurance firm Aviva, which provides private health insurance to around 1.1 million Brits, said that Wegovy would not be covered under its policy.

Wegovy’s U.K. expansion arrives just over a month after the drug launched in Germany, its third European market after Denmark and Norway.

Surging demand for the weight loss drug and a series of clinical studies that point to its more complete wellness benefits have shot the company’s claims to record highs. On Friday, it shortly unseated French luxury goods behemoth LVMH to become Europe’s most valuable company.