After telehealth startups lately misplaced the power to promote exact copies of patented GLP-1 weight-loss medicine, some companies have begun turning to a distinct, much less efficient medicine that has been available on the market in the US since 2010. Typically thought-about a precursor to blockbuster merchandise like Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, liraglutide is changing into the brand new darling of online clinics providing prescription weight reduction and diabetes meds—regardless of its relative outdated age.
Initially bought by Novo Nordisk beneath the model names Victroza and Saxenda, the drug has been out there in generic kind within the US since final yr. Like Ozempic, liraglutide is a GLP-1 agonist that mimics a naturally occurring hormone and works by suppressing starvation cues and regulating insulin ranges. But it surely doesn’t have the identical identify recognition or recognition because the newer GLP-1 medicine for a quite simple cause: It would not work as properly, could cause extra extreme uncomfortable side effects, and sufferers need to inject it every day reasonably than weekly.
The FDA decided earlier this yr that patented drugs like Zepound and Ozempic had been not in scarcity, ending provisions that allowed on-line clinics to promote off-brand, compounded variations of the medicine. As clinics and producers wind down gross sales of these compounds, many on-line clinics and producers are embracing liraglutide. Main telehealth firm Hims added generic liraglutide to its lineup final month, becoming a member of over a dozen rivals already providing the product in compounded, generic, or name-brand varieties.
Giant compounding pharmacies, like Florida-based Olympia Prescribed drugs, are already pivoting to producing the medicine, anticipating that demand will rise. “We’ve signed some fairly giant contracts for liraglutide,” says chief monetary officer Joshua Fritzler. “We will deal with it type of the identical method we handled semaglutide and tirzepatide,” the energetic elements in Ozempic and Zepbound. Fritzler says Olympia plans to start ramping up manufacturing this summer time.
GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Zepbound have been heralded for his or her unparalleled success in treating weight problems and kind 2 diabetes. Researchers consider additionally they have the potential to assist sufferers affected by all kinds of different circumstances, from dependancy to Parkinson’s. After demand for GLP-1s exploded lately, the FDA declared that a number of the name-brand variations had been formally in scarcity. That meant medical doctors might legally prescribe cheaper “compounded” variations of semaglutide and tirzepatide with the identical energetic elements because the originals.
Compounding pharmacies and telehealth startups flourished promoting these various GLP-1 merchandise on-line, attracting thousands and thousands of consumers who couldn’t afford or had been unwilling to pay larger costs for the name-brand drugs, that are often not coated by insurance coverage. Now, the shortages for both these meds have ended. The FDA’s grace interval for producers to cease producing and promoting compounded tirzepatide is over, and the closing date for semaglutide is Could 22. Liraglutide, although, has been in shortage since April 2023, so the compounders are free to maintain making it.
Some telehealth corporations are persevering with to supply compounded drugs they are saying aren’t technically direct copies of patented medicine as a result of they arrive in custom-made doses or with added nutritional vitamins. Eli Lilly has already sued some of them, alleging that these variations are unlawful. Different telehealth companies and compounders are taking part in it secure, ceasing gross sales altogether. (Olympia, for instance, is stopping manufacturing of semaglutide.)
