GLP-1 Weight Loss Drug Prices Are Unlikely To Decrease in the Near Future
Bouvé/ChE University Distinguished Professor Mansoor Amiji says people seeking weight loss drugs may be able to get help from patient financial assistance programs and alternative medications. Mounjaro weight loss drug’s active ingredient—semaglutide—is no longer in short supply, so less expensive GLP-1 compounded versions are no longer available.
This article originally appeared on Northeastern Global News. It was published by Cynthia McCormick Hibbert. Main photo: Mansoor Amiji, distinguished professor of pharmaceutical sciences and chemical engineering, says brand-name blockbuster weight loss drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound “are very expensive right now.” Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University
Why are lower-cost weight-loss drugs not available? A Northeastern expert explains
People searching for lower-priced GLP-1 weight loss drugs are facing a series of obstacles lately.
On Monday, a pharmaceutical company ended a direct sale deal offering Wegovy at a discount through the Hims & Hers telehealth company.
The collapse of the Novo Nordisk deal comes as less-expensive compounded versions of semaglutide—the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy—come off the market, leaving consumers in a frantic search for replacements.
A Northeastern pharmacy professor says people seeking weight loss drugs may be able to get help from patient financial assistance programs and alternative medications. But it appears the days when lower-priced GLP-1 compounds were manufactured on an industrial scale may be over.
Mounjaro is a weight loss drugs whose active ingredient is no longer in short supply, meaning compounded (and cheaper) versions are less available. (Photo by Peter Dazeley via Getty Images)
Why the cheaper drugs disappeared
Manufactured by Novo Nordisk, Ozempic and Wegovy are once-a-week injectable medications.
Their active ingredient, semaglutide, belongs to a class of GLP-1 receptor agonists that work to reduce weight by mimicking a naturally occurring hormone that signals your body to feel full and slows digestion by increasing the time it takes for food to leave the body.
Compounding pharmacies were allowed to mix their formulations of semaglutide when demand for the ingredient outstripped supply in 2022.
The result was an explosion of sale offerings from online telehealth outlets and medical spas that marketed versions of Ozempic and Wegovy for hundreds of dollars less a month than the full retail price of $1,000 or more.
The companies were basically “mass producing” copycat medications, says Mansoor Amiji, distinguished professor of pharmaceutical sciences and chemical engineering at Northeastern.
“It created a lot of concerns as to the quality of the compounded product and whether these products were safe and effective,” he says.
FDA steps in to regulate supply
The reign of compounded GLP-1s appeared to end in February, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared the semaglutide shortage over. The agency said compounding pharmacies had to phase out manufacturing the copycat versions over the spring.
Months prior, the FDA had also taken tirzepatide, a GLP-1 and GIP dual receptor and the active ingredient in weight-loss drug Zepbound and type 2 diabetes drug Mounjaro, off a similar shortage list.
Don’t expect prices for brand-name GLP-1 drugs to drop dramatically any time soon, Amiji says.
“They are very expensive right now,” he says. “Over time, we may see the cost going down, but right now these products are making a lot of money for these companies.”
Novo Nordisk ends Hims & Hers deal
Novo Nordisk entered a partnership with Hims & Hers in April to make Wegovy more accessible to consumers, but ended the deal on Monday over claims the telehealth firm sold knockoff versions that put patient health at risk.
Consumers searching for a monthly loss prescription that doesn’t equal two car payments have some options, Amiji says.
Read the full story at Northeastern Global News.