Ozempic is transforming the health of Denmark’s economy

FROM both a biomedical and economic point of view, the success of the new class of weight-loss drugs is something to behold.

Not only are they a remarkable scientific achievement, they are also – in the case of Ozempic and Wegovy, both made by Novo Nordisk – a huge boon to the Danish economy. The pharmaceutical industry kept Denmark from falling into a recession last year.

The dependence of some mid-sized economies on a single commodity, often related to oil or natural gas, is a familiar story. The new twist, which may become increasingly common, is a national economy dependent on a single company – not a natural resource. This will lead to some fundamentally new economic and political dynamics.