Due to the sharp increase in demand for weight loss medications, manufacturers of Ozempic and Mounjaro are competing to increase supply
The drugs, in a class known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, are so popular with all kinds of weight-loss seekers that demand has outstripped drugmakers’ ability to produce them. And while manufacturers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are racing to expand supply, a looming U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for Lilly’s type 2 diabetes drug Mounjaro to treat obesity could put even more strain on the system.
“In the last three to four months, I’ve had patients tell me they can’t get it,” Dr. Jody Dushay, a clinical endocrinologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, said of Mounjaro. Because she prescribes the drugs for both diabetes and weight loss, “I am literally aware of our supply on a daily basis.
Neither Ozempic nor Mounjaro is approved specifically for weight loss; the FDA gave them the green light for type 2 diabetes in 2017 and 2022, respectively. But doctors often use them off-label for weight loss. Wegovy, which was approved for obesity in 2021, contains the same key ingredient as Ozempic, called semaglutide, while Mounjaro uses a slightly different one, tirzepatide.