Novo Nordisk is losing Canadian patent protection on a blockbuster drug (Ozempic) after not paying a small fee [View all]
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.
The drug, which is sold as Ozempic and Wegovy, has made so much money for Novo Nordisk after exploding in popularity in the past few years that it has even impacted Denmark’s currency and interest rates.
To keep the semaglutide patent in Canada, the company had to pay an annual fee of just 250 Canadian dollars (~$185 USD). While it paid that amount in 2018, Science reported that it didn’t the following year.
The Canadian government offered Novo Nordisk another chance to keep its patent, this time with an additional charge that brought the total to 450 Canadian dollars ($331 USD).
https://fortune.com/2025/06/17/novo-nordisk-ozempic-wegovy-semaglutide-canada-patent-protection-fee/
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Sounds like someone's getting fired.
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