Might 5, 2023 — The on-again, off-again saga of Wegovy provide issues for U.S. sufferers seeking to shed extra pounds is again.
Novo Nordisk, the corporate that manufactures and markets semaglutide for weight reduction as Wegovy and for treating kind 2 diabetes as Ozempic, announced Thursday that the corporate will solely be capable of “provide restricted portions of 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, and 1 mg dose strengths [of Wegovy] to wholesalers for distribution to retail pharmacies” in america. Because of this the anticipated provide “is not going to meet anticipated affected person demand,” a scenario the corporate expects to proceed “by September.”
The replace added that the bottleneck is attributable to provide failing to fulfill U.S. demand, though the announcement additionally assured sufferers already utilizing the drug and taking increased weekly dosages that their provide shouldn’t be affected.
“We don’t presently anticipate provide interruptions of the 1.7 mg and a pair of.4 mg dose strengths of Wegovy,” the announcement mentioned.
Déjà Vu All Over Once more
If this provide scarcity looks like déjà vu, that’s as a result of the U.S. provide of Wegovy additionally fell quick all through a lot of 2022. Nevertheless, by December 2022 and as just lately as February 2023, statements from Novo Nordisk made it sound like the availability shortages had been coming to an finish. The corporate’s announcement at this time exhibits that optimism was misplaced.
A scarcity of doses for 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, and 1 mg will largely have an effect on individuals beginning on Wegovy. To keep away from or reduce unwanted effects, particularly gastrointestinal results, when sufferers begin remedy with semaglutide or another related drug, they start on the bottom dose and steadily work as much as a upkeep dose, which for Wegovy could be as much as 2.4 mg/week.
The corporate’s announcement acknowledged this affect, saying well being care suppliers ought to “consider the restricted provide of the 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg and 1 mg dose strengths of Wegovy as a part of their decision-making when initiating new sufferers on remedy, recognizing the opportunity of disruption in care.”
Novo Nordisk’s announcement additionally urged suppliers and sufferers to keep away from utilizing the semaglutide formulation designed for treating kind 2 diabetes, Ozempic, as a work-around. The assertion highlighted that Wegovy and Ozempic “aren’t interchangeable.”
This Wegovy scarcity redux might immediate a return to the workarounds devised by U.S. weight loss clinics last year.
One among these workarounds entails beginning sufferers on a distinct drug for weight reduction, similar to liraglutide (Saxenda), after which crossing the affected person over to an out there, higher-dose formulation of Wegovy as soon as the early part is full.
