A Gauteng High Court judge has reserved judgment in the case between Novo Nordisk and iDexis in which the pharmaceutical giant seeks to prevent the Pretoria pharmacy from manufacturing and distributing unregistered and unapproved copies of its popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy, according to Rapport.
iDexis denies that its compounded products infringe on Novo’s intellectual property for the two drugs.
During last week’s battle, the court heard that a single medical practice, which is one of the pharmacy’s biggest clients, has more than 40 000 patients on its books.
Dr Tommie Smook apparently has 41 220 patients on his books, and is not a party to the litigation, but Novo Nordisk quoted several figures from his practice as part of its argument that iDexis is abusing a regulatory loophole allowing a compounding pharmacy to manufacture unique medicine based on a particular patient’s needs.
Smook’s marketing material reveals that his practice offers patients a syringe of semaglutide from R1 250 per shot, tirzepatide from R1 850 per shot and a “GLP-1 blend”, consisting of semaglutide and tirzepatide) from R1 700 to R2 750 per shot.
Smook’s legal representative declined to comment as his client is not a party in the litigation.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
GLP-1 compound clash in court as Big Pharma pushes back
Novo Nordisk sues local pharmacy over alleged ‘knock-off’ weight-loss jabs