Huh, just discovered that it's now generic in Canada
Semaglutide's patent protection expired in Canada at the beginning of 2026. (Novo Nordisk failed to pay a required patent maintenance fee.)
My understanding is that it'll be generic in the US soon too, and any improvements are just in delivery methods (pill vs injection). I'd agree that if it is able to be locked behind expensive patents that there might not be much societal change, but if you assume that it's as easy to get as tylenol or something, that seems big.