{"id":627536,"date":"2024-03-25T10:31:26","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T14:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/?p=627536"},"modified":"2025-03-03T16:47:06","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T21:47:06","slug":"wegovy-backorder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/wegovy-backorder\/","title":{"rendered":"Wegovy backorder: Why it happens and what to do about it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wegovy<\/a> (semaglutide) is an injectable medication <\/span>approved in 2021<\/span> for people with obesity or who are overweight and have a weight-related medical condition. It is also approved to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death in adults with obesity or who are overweight with known heart disease. Wegovy is injected weekly to help lose weight and maintain weight loss. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople want these drugs,\u201d notes <\/span>Kathleen Jordan, MD<\/span><\/a>, a menopause-trained internal medicine physician and chief medical officer of Midi Health. \u201cThey want to feel better. Morbid obesity takes 10 years off your life expectancy. They want to live.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But it hasn\u2019t always been easy to get Wegovy. For people eager to try\u2014or already are taking\u00a0 Wegovy\u2014the Wegovy backorder was a source of frustration. And if they switched to compounded semaglutide because of the Wegovy shortage, they may be required to switch to the FDA-approved version soon. Here\u2019s what you should know about why the Wegovy shortage happened and what to do if you\u2019re taking a compounded version.<\/span><\/p>\n

Introduction to Wegovy<\/span><\/h2>\n

The active ingredient of Wegovy is semaglutide, and it belongs to the class of medications called <\/span>glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like other medications containing semaglutide, Wegovy works by mimicking the GLP-1 hormone that\u2019s 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\u2019s why healthcare providers prescribe other semaglultide medications, like <\/span>Ozempic<\/span><\/a>, to people with <\/span>Type 2 diabetes<\/span><\/a> to help control their blood sugar levels.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2019s 2 mg. <\/span>Clinical trials<\/span><\/a> 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Understanding the issue of Wegovy backordered<\/span><\/h2>\n

Shortages often develop when the manufacturer scrambles to meet demand. When people realized how effective Wegovy was, demand soared, and supply couldn\u2019t 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\u2019s 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\u2019s list of drugs in short supply.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In January 2024, <\/span>Novo Nordisk announced<\/span><\/a> 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In February 2025, <\/span>the FDA announced that the semaglutide shortage was over<\/span><\/a>, meaning compounding pharmacies can no longer make identical versions of FDA-approved Wegovy. State-licensed pharmacies have until April 22, 2025, to stop compounding semaglutide products identical to Wegovy, and outsourcing facilities have until May 22, 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/b>Is compounded semaglutide safe?<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Consequences of Wegovy being backordered<\/span><\/h2>\n

Because Wegovy was in short supply, patients already taking Wegovy weren\u2019t 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 <\/span>Saxenda<\/span><\/a> (liraglutide). \u201cOthers have just waited or turned to a <\/span>compounded version<\/span><\/a> of the drug,\u201d Dr. Jordan says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But some people didn\u2019t want to stop using semaglutide since it worked so well for them. So some healthcare providers began prescribing other semaglutide medications to their patients instead. <\/span>Ozempic<\/span><\/a> injections and <\/span>Rybelsus<\/span><\/a> tablets are both <\/span>FDA-approved treatments containing semaglutide<\/span><\/a>, but they\u2019re 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 <\/span>off-label<\/span><\/a>. When medications are prescribed off-label, there is a small chance that the patient\u2019s insurance covers the medication.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By May 2023, Ozempic had also landed on the FDA\u2019s <\/span>Drug Shortages list<\/span><\/a>, complicating the situation for many people with <\/span>Type 2 diabetes<\/span><\/a> relying on that particular drug. Now that the semaglutide shortage is over, so is the Ozempic shortage.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t