WHO Adds Ozempic and Mounjaro to Its List of Essential Medicines

Packets of Ozempic move along a conveyor at the Novo Nordisk.

Photographer: Carsten Snejbjerg/Bloomberg

The World Health Organization added Novo Nordisk A/S’s Ozempic and Eli Lilly & Co.’s Mounjaro to its list of essential medicines, a step that may expand access to the drugs around the world.

The recommendation applies to a range of GLP-1 drugs that also includes Lilly’s older medicine Trulicity and Novo’s Victoza, the WHO said on Friday.