Novo Nordisk is launching its weight loss pill Wegovy in the United Arab Emirates, the Danish drugmaker said Wednesday, marking its first launch outside the U.S. market.
Novo’s approach will be guided by patient demand, the readiness of healthcare professionals, and the strength of healthcare and telehealth infrastructure, said Emil Kongshøj Larsen, executive vice president, International Operations.
“The UAE has demonstrated strong momentum across all of these areas, and we look forward to bringing Wegovy pill to additional select countries in the coming months,” he said.
The country’s regulator, the Emirates Drug Establishment, approved the Wegovy pill for weight management and reducing the risk of cardiovascular events in high-risk patients earlier this week.
Larsen told CNBC last month that Novo was “all in” on launching the Wegovy pill in overseas markets, and that it was a “major opportunity.”
The UAE launch comes as Novo has been battling a declining share of the weight-loss drug market, which analysts expect could exceed $100 billion by 2030. While Novo was first in launching the so-called GLP-1 drugs for obesity, Lilly’s Mounjaro overtook Novo’s Ozempic as the best-selling GLP-1 in the second quarter of 2025.
The U.S. still accounts for more than half of sales for both Novo and its chief rival, Eli Lilly, which recently launched its own weight-loss pill, Foundayo.
Novo announced alongside its first-quarter earnings in early May that, pending approvals, it would launch the pill in certain markets outside the U.S. in the second half of 2026, without naming specific markets.
