World Health Organization (WHO) will review the request of inclusion of the obesity drug ‘Saxenda’ on its Model List of Essential Medicines at the end of April 2023.
WHO gathers the most important drugs on its Model List of Essential Medicines.
The Model List of Essential Medicines is a recommendation of health systems worldwide and contains approximately 600 different medicines such as anaesthesia, antiviral drugs or treatments for pain and fever.
The medicines that constitute the list are termed as the priority health needs of a population. They need to be safe, effective, available and affordable at all times.
The goal of the list is to ensure that the medicines are widely available to improve medical care worldwide.
As per 2023 update, the US researchers have advised the inclusion of the obesity drug ‘Saxenda’ to the list.
Saxenda is a daily injection that affects hunger signals to the brain and slows the rate at which a person’s stomach empties, making the stomach filled up for a longer time.
Saxenda is a prescription medication which contains the active ingredient liraglutide. The substance will soon be free of patent restrictions, allowing for cheaper generic versions to be developed.
This would be the first obesity medicine on the WHO’s list of essential medicines.