By Ludwig Burger
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's health ministry has no plans to change a law that prevents the health insurance system from paying for weight-loss drugs, it said on Tuesday, dismissing remarks by an Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) executive of talks that may lead to a relaxing of the ban.
"There are currently no plans to change the policy on coverage of pharmaceuticals for weight loss," a ministry spokesperson said in a statement, responding to a request from Reuters.
The policy affects statutory health plans overseen by the state that cover about 90% of people in Germany.
On Monday, Spiegel magazine cited Lilly executive Ilya Yuffa as saying representatives of the U.S. maker of obesity and diabetes drugs was in a "good dialogue" with the federal government to ease the ban, adding he was optimistic an agreement could be reached.
Lilly's weekly injection Mounjaro was approved in the European Union in December for weight loss in certain overweight or obese patients, when combined with a reduced-calorie diet and exercise.
European governments, with over-stretched health budgets, have so far taken a restrictive approach to paying for highly popular weight-loss treatments, which include Novo Nordisk (CSE:NOVOb)'s Wegovy.
Germany, Europe's largest drug market, has been among the most stringent.
The U.S. state-run Medicare system for the elderly is also banned from reimbursing the cost, but private insurance plans in the United States, many of which have some form of payment, cover a much larger percentage of the population than in Europe.
After Novo introduced weight-loss drug Wegovy in Germany in July, many obese people frustrated by years of fruitless attempts to lose weight have shown willing to pay for it themselves.
But the launch also stoked a debate among healthcare professionals over an obesity-drug reimbursement ban that is in place even though the condition is acknowledged as a chronic disease.
The health ministry at the time told Reuters that the law that classifies weight-loss medicines as lifestyle drugs would be upheld.
That stance could be tested by possible wider use of Wegovy to prevent strokes and heart attacks in some overweight or obese patients that are particularly at risk.
The EU's drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, is reviewing the issue, but has declined to say when it expects to come to a conclusion.
Novo initiated the review based on a trial that showed that risk reduction from Wegovy became apparent immediately after the start of therapy, suggesting a cardiovascular benefit that is more than just a secondary effect of weight loss.
The ministry's rebuff comes even as Lilly is getting ready build its first plant in Germany in the western town of Alzey for 2.3 billion euros ($2.5 billion) to make diabetes and weight-loss drugs including Mounjaro.