Wegovy backorder: Why it happens and what to do about it

Wegovy (semaglutide) is an injectable medication approved in 2021 for people with obesity or who are overweight and have a weight-related medical condition. It’s injected weekly to help lose weight and maintain weight loss. 

“People want these drugs,” notes Kathleen Jordan, MD, a menopause-trained internal medicine physician and chief medical officer of Midi Health. “They want to feel better. Morbid obesity takes ten years off your life expectancy. They want to live.”

But it hasn’t always been easy to get Wegovy. For people eager to try—or already are taking  Wegovy—the Wegovy backorder has been a source of frustration.

Introduction to Wegovy

The active ingredient of Wegovy is semaglutide, and it belongs to the class of medications called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists.

Like other medications containing semaglutide, Wegovy works by mimicking the GLP-1 hormone that’s released in the digestive tract in response to eating. This hormone prompts the pancreas to produce more insulin, which helps reduce glucose levels in the bloodstream. That’s why healthcare providers prescribe other semaglultide medications, like Ozempic, to people with Type 2 diabetes to help control their blood sugar levels. 

GLP-1 agonists not only improve blood sugar control but also reduce appetite. Unlike Ozempic, which is FDA approved to treat Type 2 diabetes, Wegovy is approved for weight loss in patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher and in patients with a BMI of 27 or higher who also have a weight-related medical condition like Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol. Semaglutide is the active ingredient in both drugs, but Wegovy has a higher maintenance dose of 2.4 milligrams (mg) compared with Ozempic’s 2 mg. Clinical trials suggested that 2.4 mg of semaglutide once weekly was associated with a sustained, clinically relevant reduction in body weight when combined with lifestyle interventions like a healthy diet and exercise.

Understanding the issue of Wegovy backordered

Shortages often develop when the manufacturer scrambles to meet demand. When people realized how effective Wegovy was, demand soared, and supply couldn’t keep up. The Wegovy shortages prompted the manufacturer, Novo Nordisk, to limit the supply of the three lowest doses of Wegovy, which are used at the beginning of a patient’s Wegovy treatment. This was intended to ensure that people who were already taking a full Wegovy dose were still able to get the medication. In March 2022, the drug landed on the FDA’s list of drugs in short supply. 

In January 2024, Novo Nordisk announced that it was boosting the supply of Wegovy and would more than double the amount of the lower dose strengths of Wegovy into the U.S. market throughout the rest of the year. 

Consequences of Wegovy being backordered

Because Wegovy was in short supply, patients already taking Wegovy weren’t able to move to the next higher dose as planned, which led to stalled progress. Some people have turned to older weight loss drugs, like Saxenda (liraglutide). “Others have just waited or turned to a compounded version of the drug,” Dr. Jordan says. 

But some people didn’t want to stop using semaglutide since it worked so well for them. So some providers began prescribing other semaglutide medications to their patients instead. Ozempic injections and Rybelsus tablets are both FDA-approved treatments containing semaglutide, but they’re intended to help people with Type 2 diabetes lower their blood sugar levels, along with diet and exercise. Because those drugs are not FDA approved for weight loss, like Wegovy, healthcare providers may prescribe them off-label.  When medications are prescribed off-label, there is a small chance that the patient’s insurance covers the medication. 

By May 2023, Ozempic had also landed on the FDA’s Drug Shortages list, complicating the situation for many people with Type 2 diabetes relying on that particular drug.

Coping with Wegovy backorders

When there’s a Wegovy backorder, Dr. Jordan recommends asking your healthcare provider about an alternative or compound medication. As a last resort, and at your healthcare provider’s discretion, you can also stop taking Wegovy until it becomes more readily available or affordable.

Dr. Jordan notes that there are benefits and drawbacks to all of those options, though. For example, if you’re already taking one medication that’s been authorized by your insurance company, it can be cumbersome and time-consuming to get a different drug approved instead—if at all.

If you choose to visit a compounding pharmacy, you can get a semaglutide product without discontinuing treatment, but compounded drugs aren’t often covered by insurance. Also, the FDA cautions patients against using a compounded drug if an approved drug is available. That’s because the FDA doesn’t test compounded versions of drugs for safety, effectiveness, or quality. 

If you choose to stop taking Wegovy, you increase the risk of side effects like gastrointestinal distress in addition to weight gain. A study published in 2022 in the journal Diabetes, Obesity & Metabolism found that people regained two-thirds of their lost weight a year after they stopped taking a weekly 2.4 mg dose of semaglutide. 

However, Dr. Jordan explains that they might not need to fear a temporary pause. “When you come off the drug, you can continue with diet, exercise, and lifestyle adjustments. It’s not like you just abandon your whole weight management program.”

RELATED: The best diet while taking Wegovy

Wegovy alternatives

While Wegovy is in short supply or is backordered, there are other weight loss medications that may be worth discussing with your healthcare provider. Options include Qsymia (phentermine-topiramate), Xenical (orlistat), Contrave (naltrexone-bupropion), and Saxenda (liraglutide), all of which are approved by the FDA.

However, these medications can have side effects, and their results can vary, too. Also, the delivery methods are different, which may be less desirable for some people. For example, Saxenda is considered effective, but it requires a daily injection instead of weekly, like Wegovy. People who take orlistat have to take a capsule with each meal for a total of three times a day. 

Some people have also turned to Ozempic, since it also contains semaglutide. However, Ozempic has also been affected by shortages. 

As time goes by, however, more options are becoming available to people who need help losing weight. 

For example, tirzepatide holds a great deal of promise, according to experts. The FDA approved Mounjaro in May 2022 and then Zepbound in November 2023. Both drugs contain tirzepatide as the active ingredient, but Mounjaro is approved to treat Type 2 diabetes, while Zepbound is approved for weight loss.

“The future is very bright in regard to the pipeline of hormonal therapies for weight management,” says Rehka Kumar, MD, an endocrinologist and obesity medicine specialist and chief medical officer at Found. “The hope is that there will be many options for medicines that people can take because medicine is not one size fits all.”

RELATED: What to do during the Mounjaro shortage

Bottom line

The effectiveness of Wegovy in helping people lose weight led it to become a very popular drug. This popularity translated into drug shortages when supply couldn’t match demand. Some people turned to other weight loss medications, while others just hoped that the shortages would end sooner rather than later. The manufacturer recently announced that the supply of Wegovy would be increasing, enabling more people to get their hands on the in-demand drug. People hoping to lose weight with the aid of medication may have even more choices available to them down the road as more drugs win FDA approval.