Never before has a generation debated so intensely and under such scrutiny the literal and symbolic weight of medicine as in the first six months of the Trump era. Washington’s trade policy, with its wave of tariffs and protectionism, has put entire industries in check, and among them, the European pharmaceutical industry emerges as one of the main collateral damages. But within this perfect storm, there is an unexpected protagonist that embodies not only an economic battle, but also a profound cultural clash: Ozempic, the revolutionary obesity pill that seemed to have found the magic formula for contemporary body control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since his presidential campaign, Donald Trump has made it clear that his crusade would be to bring pharmaceutical production back to US soil, claiming national sovereignty over something as essential as health. Ursula Von Der Leyen, by semi-confirming the imposition of a unilateral European tariff of 15% on pharmaceutical exports, laid the first stone of an invisible but insurmountable wall for companies such as Novo Nordisk. The Danish company, creator of Ozempic, saw its shares fall by 26% last July, a drop that speaks not only of numbers but also of the fragility of a globalised model that cannot withstand geopolitical tensions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Novo Nordisk’s debacle cannot be explained solely by geopolitics: fierce competition in the United States, with Eli Lilly hot on its heels, and the unexpected rise of \u2018dupes\u2019, those illegal and cheap versions of Ozempic, are eroding the ground it has conquered. A parallel market that began as a response to shortages and the exorbitant price of the pill, and which has continued even after the end of the grace period granted by the FDA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n