Weight loss drug supply races

By Phillip Broadwith2025-03-18T08:52:00

Hands holding a weight loss injection pen, soft lighting from filtered sunshine through net curtains

Source: © Iuliia Burmistrova/Getty Images

With official shortages ended, but the first generics gearing up for launch, companies are looking for the next generation of drugs

Everyone in pharmaceuticals wants a piece of the action when it comes to weight-loss drugs. In the US, manufacturers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have convinced regulators that they can now supply enough of their respective injection products semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound) to end official shortages. That has left compounding pharmacies, which for more than two years have been plugging the supply gap with their own formulations, fighting for their rights to continue selling these lucrative medicines.