Novo Nordisk reimburses its staff who've been prescribed the drugs it develops — including its expensive weight loss drug Wegovy, Bloomberg reported Nov. 15. The drugmaker employs about 21,000 people in Denmark.
Novo Nordisk has long offered to reimburse employees who are treated with its other drugs for conditions such as diabetes and hemophilia, though the perk has generated renewed attention as Wegovy has gained popularity. Employees are taxed on the benefit, and the drugmaker said it does not have a designated supply from which it pulls drugs for staff.
"Employees must of course meet with the general practitioner, be diagnosed and get a prescription, like any other Danish citizen," the company said in an email to Bloomberg. "These pharmaceutical benefit practices also exist in other global organizations."