In 2017, a new diabetes medicine hit pharmacies in the US.

Looking to get back in your type 2 diabetes zone?

Once Weekly OZemPEC can help.

It wasn't just getting control of their blood sugar, though.

With this one, called OZampic, users were losing some serious weight. It's a story that's very similar to another

famous drug, Viagra. Get to your doctor for a checkup and find out if a free simple of Viagra,

it's right for you. It was initially developed to tackle heart disease, but it was a surprising

standout side effect that raked in billions for its maker, Pfizer.

And no, I'm not going to say it out loud.

Anyway, back to OZemPEC and its weight loss spin-off drug Weigovie.

The company that makes it, Novo Nordisk, is now Europe's most valuable company.

It can't keep up with demand, and of course, its rivals are

queuing up for a piece of the action. We are just scratching in the surface in terms of the number

of patients we help. That's the boss of Novo Nordisk, Lars Fugurgard Jorgensen. There's ample opportunity

for competitors to come in and help patients because the size

of the market that's being addressed today is very, very small. So, is he right? Is there

room for competition? In yesterday's episode, we looked at how Novo Nordisk shook up its home

country, Denmark. Today we're asking, can the company behind OZMPIC keep its lead

in the pharmaceutical gold rush?

I'm Leanna Byrne

and you're listening to Business Daily

on the BBC World Service.

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