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Fortune
Fortune
Jason Ma

Novo Nordisk is losing Canadian patent protection on a blockbuster drug after not paying a small fee

(Credit: Steve Christo—Corbis/Getty Images)
  • The pharma giant will lose its patent protection on semaglutide, which is sold as Ozempic and Wegovy, in Canada after not paying a nominal maintenance fee years before it became a blockbuster drug for fighting diabetes and obesity, Science reported. Novo Nordisk generates billions of dollars in revenue from the drug in Canada, but patent protection is due to end next year.

Years before semaglutide became a blockbuster drug for Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharma giant had the chance to maintain its patent in Canada but didn’t pay a small fee to do so, according to a recent report in Science.

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