Obesity drugs could cost Polish budget about PLN 1.4 billion as drugmakers lobby for reimbursement

In brief

• Drugmakers of obesity medicines are seeking NFZ reimbursement in Poland while increasing sponsorship and lobbying spending.
• Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk reportedly transferred about PLN 25 million to doctors and health organisations in the past year.
• The pending reimbursement applications could cost the state budget about PLN 1.4 billion over several years.

Drugmakers push for reimbursement

Producers of obesity medicines are working to have their products added to the list of drugs reimbursed by the National Health Fund, NFZ. According to Rzeczpospolita, companies are stepping up sponsorship and lobbying efforts, spending millions of złoty on it (Leki na otyłość będą w Polsce refundowane? Producenci nie odpuszczają, a resort zdrowia liczy koszty – GazetaPrawna.pl).

Money flowing to doctors and institutions

Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, which make the popular drugs Mounjaro and Wegovy, transferred about PLN 25 million last year to doctors and health organisations, according to RMF24. Of that sum, PLN 16 million went to sponsorship of scientific societies, universities, hospitals and patient groups, and PLN 9 million went to payments to physicians for services. Travel costs for conferences are not included in these figures. Money from the same sources also supports public awareness campaigns and education on treating obesity, and events held in parliament have included organisations financed by the manufacturers. Rzeczpospolita reported the total spent on cooperation with doctors, experts, foundations and associations as PLN 25 million in 2025 (Gra o leki na odchudzanie i 1,4 mld zł z budżetu. Miliony złotych dla lekarzy i ekspertów – Rzeczpospolita).

Cost to the state

Separately, RMF24 estimated that reimbursing Mounjaro alone would add about PLN 550 million in spending over two years. Bankier.pl gave the broader figure of roughly PLN 1.5 billion for the drugs' cost to the budget within several years (Producenci leków na otyłość chcą refundacji. Koszt dla budżetu to ok. 1,5 mld zł – Bankier.pl).

Health ministry concerns

Representatives of the Ministry of Health have expressed concern about the scale of lobbying, which they say has gone beyond what is acceptable in parliament.

What happens next

No decision on reimbursement has been reported yet. The debate is likely to centre on whether the state can afford the cost and how industry influence on medical and political bodies is managed.

Read also

• Shorter waits for reimbursed drugs: Ministry of Health proposes changes to how therapy is funded