The battle over Greenland may be fought with diet drugs
MAGA goes global
“Make Greenland Great Again!” says President-Elect Donald J. Trump. Historically, Greenland has never been especially great on the world stage. Its tiny population (less than 60,000) and the fact that four-fifths of it is covered in ice make it seem rather insignificant.
However, Greenland is rich in natural resources such as oil and rare-earth elements. In 2001, the U.S. Geological Survey concluded that there could be as many as 110 billion barrels of oil beneath Greenland’s waters. That oil is as yet untapped; as for the rare-earth elements, one quasi-superpower, China, has already entered the picture via Greenland Minerals Limited, where Shenghe Resources Holding is the largest stakeholder.
The rare substances — estimated at over 38 million tons — in a part of Greenland called Kvanefjeld, include elements such as scandium and yttrium which are used in a variety of manufactured goods including cell phones, wind turbines, and electric vehicles. The mine now being developed is likely to prove highly lucrative for Greenland, with estimates that the country will receive $240 million in taxes and royalties each year over the mine’s planned 37-year lifespan.
So, Greenland is highly attractive real estate for incoming President Trump.
Furthermore, an extremely important U.S. military base is already located in Greenland; this is Thule Air Base, occupied by around 600 U.S. personnel. Thule fills a critical role in the United States’ missile defense network in the northern hemisphere, especially in the Arctic Circle, relevant against foes Russia and China.
Last week, Trump’s oldest son set out for Greenland together with conservative activist Charlie Kirk in what is widely considered to be a scouting trip — scouting out a potential purchase of the world’s largest island.
“Don Jr. and my Reps landing in Greenland,” Trump posted on Truth Social as they arrived.
The reception has been great. They, and the Free World, need safety, security, strength, and PEACE!
This is a deal that must happen. MAGA. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!
Trump's secret weapon?
But is Greenland up for sale? Currently, it belongs to Denmark. It was a Danish colony until 1953 when it was absorbed into the Danish Kingdom. In 1979, it was granted home rule; in 2009, self-governance, restricted to domestic affairs while Denmark retained control of defense and foreign policy. However, the 2009 agreement gave Greenland the right to declare independence via a referendum.
Greenland's Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede insists that his country “will never be for sale.”
Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom.
Trump appears undaunted and has actually threatened Denmark with consequences if it does not relinquish Greenland. He has specified “high tariffs” as one method of leverage and also refused to rule out a military campaign, leaving some European leaders apparently incredulous.
Trump has also threatened numerous other parts of the world with painful economic consequences if they do not fall into line with his agenda. When it comes to Greenland, however — or, more accurately, Denmark — the United States has a powerful weapon it has used in the past to exact painful consequences from entities that displeased it.
This weapon is the FDA.
The FDA: Protecting your money or your life?
Around 10 years ago, the FDA was interested in researching an old drug marketed as Delalutin, first used in the 1950s, with a view to licensing it for prevention of preterm births. Back in the 1950s, the FDA’s conditions for drug approval were less stringent than they are today, and so the FDA was motivated to grant K-V Pharmaceutical Company access to its “accelerated pathway” to approval (fast-tracking, with a measure of assistance with trials), as the company would cover the considerable costs of the clinical research.
The new drug was named Makena and was approved in 2011. When it entered the market, K-V Pharma charged $1,500 per dose, according to former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who stressed that the FDA was dismayed at the huge price-tag (as was the general public) and took steps to address the situation.
There weren’t too many steps the FDA could take; what it chose to do was override the patent on Makena and allow compounding pharmacies to make their own copies of the drug and sell it at a fraction of the price charged by K-V Pharma. Gottlieb related that,
By permitting compounders to compete with Makena rather than enforcing its exclusivity, the FDA sent a clear signal: The agency was opening the door to competition by compounding pharmacies as a rebuke to a branded drug’s steep price.
(Years later, after further clinical trials, the FDA voted to recommend sidelining Makena and the drug company which then owned it, Covis, withdrew it from the market.)
Gottlieb expressed serious misgivings over the FDA’s behavior, pointing out that compounding pharmacies are not bound by such strict regulations and monitoring as regular pharma manufacturers, a fact which could endanger citizens using the drugs they manufacture.
Drug wars like you've never seen them before
Whatever one may think of the stringency of the FDA’s current regulations (see here for another view), Gottlieb’s description of the FDA acting not to protect patient health but rather the patient’s pocket would seem to raise questions regarding the federal government’s conduct. It is noteworthy that Gottlieb’s views were only very recently publicized in the context of the debate over GLP-1 agonist drugs, better known as weight-loss injections Wegovy and Zepbound.
How does this tie in with the debate over Greenland?
It just so happens that while Zepbound is manufactured by Eli Lilly & Company, a U.S. pharmaceutical business, Wegovy is manufactured by Novo Nordisk, a Danish company.
Denmark, like Greenland, is a relatively small country, with a population of around six million. In 2023, the country’s entire economic output was just under $400 billion. In that same year, Novo Nordisk’s stockmarket value was estimated at $418 billion.
Novo Nordisk is actually Europe’s largest company by stockmarket value. Its success rests almost exclusively on Wegovy (along with Ozempic, the same drug but in a different dosage, for people with type 2 diabetes). In 2023, Denmark’s economy grew by around 1.2 percent. Removing Novo Nordisk from the equation would have left Denmark with zero economic growth — stagnation.
Wegovy and Ozempic have proven to be extraordinarily lucrative drugs, with around 40 million users. According to Reuters, over 200,000 prescriptions for Wegovy alone are filled by U.S. patients every month. A monthly course of the drug costs around $1,350 but the price tag has not, seemingly, acted as a deterrent and demand continues to rise.
What if the FDA decided to step in, wearing its “social justice hat,” and open the market to compounded generics in protest against all that American money flowing into Denmark?
In fact, one might say that it already has.
To be continued...
