France 'first EU country to cover obesity drugs'

France's Health Minister, Stéphanie Rist, has said that the country is the first in the EU to provide reimbursement coverage for weight-loss therapies, including Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Mounjaro.

In an interview with French national broadcaster TF1, Rist said limited coverage of the two weekly injectable medicines has been approved, reserving their use only for people with severe obesity, and that the cost of providing them would be around €100 million ($116 million) a year.

They will become an option for severely obese patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or more and at least one weight-related comorbidity, such as heart disease, or a BMI of at least 40 with or without comorbidities. The standard reimbursement rate will be 65%, she added, but noted that most patients will get 100% of the cost covered due to comorbidities.

"We are the first country in the EU to provide reimbursement for patients who need it, under general law, on a permanent basis," Rist told TF1, adding that the target population is "around one million people." People in France currently pay around €300 a month out of pocket for the injections.

In the UK, the NHS also covers Wegovy (semaglutide) and Mounjaro (tirzepatide) for some patients, but coverage is also restricted, and most people access the drugs by paying for them privately. In April, NHS access to Wegovy was extended to a broader group of patients, based on data showing it can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

The recognition that the benefits of these GLP-1 agonist drugs extend beyond weight loss has led to debate about their cost-effectiveness across Europe. At the moment, the UK and France are thought to be outliers in coverage, with most countries only reimbursing their use for type 2 diabetes.

CVS restores cover for Zepbound in US

Meanwhile, US pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) CVS Health has said it will bring back coverage of tirzepatide, sold by Lilly in the US as Zepbound, after taking it off its approved formulary last year.

At the time, the decision was seen as a major victory for Novo Nordisk in its battle for market share with Lilly in the US weight-loss category, as Wegovy coverage was retained after a pricing negotiation. However, it did not stop Zepbound growing at an explosive rate to reach $13.5 billion worldwide last year.

Sales of Lilly's drug in the US alone grew 122% in the fourth quarter and 79% in the first three months of 2026, helping it become the world's top-selling medicine.

Now, CVS Health is restoring Zepbound to its Caremark formulary and also adding Lilly's oral GLP-1 Foundayo (orforglipron), which competes with Novo Nordisk's also-covered Wegovy pill.

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