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Neither for themselves nor for the Russians: a company from St. Petersburg has won the right to an analogue of Ozempic
The Intellectual Property Court (IPC) has issued a decision against Novo Nordisk in St. Petersburg, co-owned by Petr Rodionov (DP Billionaires Ranking: 138th in 2023). As DP previously reported, the case concerns the conditions for compulsory licensing of the use of inventions in Russia under seven patents owned by the defendant. They advocate the production of the diabetes drug Ozempic (international non-proprietary name: semaglutide). Geropharm's portfolio includes a similar drug, Semavik.
"This is a known fact from open sources: Novo Nordisk refused to supply Ozempic to Russia, which may serve as evidence of insufficient use of the invention," says Olga Nechaeva, junior lawyer at the Nordik Star law firm. Within a year, Geropharm was able to use the Danish company's invention. This indicates that the St. Petersburg company is ready to use the invention, while Geropharm approached Novo Nordisk for a license agreement, which was rejected. "
The decision has not yet entered into force. Olga Nechaeva believes that Novo Nordisk will most likely try to appeal the lawsuit due to the high cost of its patents and the desire to protect them. "However, in the current situation, the chances of success are slim until the company starts supplying drugs to Russia again," the expert adds.
According to Nikolay Bespalov, development director of the analytical company RNC Pharma, Semavik® Next is a special form of the drug Semavik, containing a large number of active substances. Also, these two drugs have different indications for use. "Semavik" is intended for the treatment of diabetes, and "Semavik® Next" is intended for the fight against excess weight.
"The launch of Semavic® Next will affect the sales of Semavic and similar products based on semaglutide. According to various estimates, 70-80% of sales of these drugs are for the prevention of excess weight. In reality, the drug is not used for its intended purpose (off-label). Therefore, sales of Semavic and Kinsena will most likely decrease," predicts Nikolai Bespalov.
Theoretically, Semavic® Next could simply replace the off-label use of other semaglutide drugs, and that is where the bulk of sales would come from. And even based on current sales figures, this amounts to about 4.8-5.5 billion rubles per year, says Nikolai Bespalov. However, in reality, the amounts will probably be higher, since demand for drugs in this therapeutic group is growing rapidly.
"Compared to January-August last year, sales of packaging increased sixfold, and in monetary terms - 3.2 times," said Nikolai Bespalov. Markets, deficit and domestic drugs appeared only in December 2023, and full sales will begin in January 2024. That is, the explosive growth is associated with this fact, but the potential for more positive dynamics still remains, and we, of course, consider this very important. "You are probably already talking about tens of percent, and not about multiple sales dynamics."