Like many Americans who want to lose weight, Marissa Montanino felt compelled to try Ozempic, a very popular treatment in the United States that is considered revolutionary in the fight against obesity.
• Also read: Medical grossophobia: “I was in shock” – A patient struggling with eating disorders was offered Ozempic by her doctor
• Also read: Study shows another diabetes drug is better for weight loss than Ozempic
• Also read: Obesity treatments are entering a “new era.”
“I sometimes exercised three times a day,” the 36-year-old beautician told AFP. “I’ve been eating really, really healthy… and nothing has changed.”
“I had already heard about Ozempic and then I saw other people taking it, like celebrities, who suddenly lost weight very quickly,” she continues.
However, Ms. Montanino feared the risk of gastrointestinal disorders that may accompany this injectable anti-diabetic drug from the Danish laboratory Novo Nordisk, which has been approved in the United States since 2017.
“I was scared, I was very worried,” she explains. “I’m terrified of being sick.”
When she finally took the plunge, her doctor prescribed not Ozempic but a personalized medicine that contained the same active molecule as Novo Nordisk’s patented injections: semaglutide, which sends a satiety signal to the brain.
The preparations have long been used in the USA when a patient is allergic to an active ingredient.
More than 40% of the American population suffers from obesity, a sign of a major public health crisis and, given their effectiveness, a huge market for these new variants of Ozempic.
“The main problem is that it is now difficult to get treatments,” researcher and doctor Samuel Klein of Washington University in St. Louis told AFP. “Not enough medicines are being manufactured.”
In fact, Ozempic recently sold out after creating a buzz on social media for its weight-loss properties.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified semaglutide and tirzepatide – a molecule used by American company Eli Lilly’s diabetes and obesity drugs – as currently in “short supply”.
Copies
This designation removes certain restrictions and allows companies to produce products that are, according to the FDA, “substantially copies of approved drugs.”
Many Americans are therefore turning to these sometimes cheaper options, but experts and authorities warn about the possible risks involved.
Andrea Coviello, a doctor specializing in obesity, told AFP she was worried about her patients, who often order these types of supplements online.
If some have lost weight, “we don’t know exactly what they’re getting,” emphasizes the professor at the University of North Carolina.
Marissa Montanino, who stands 5ft 10in tall, is said to have lost 150lbs to 120lbs in less than six months thanks to her weekly injections. Your goal is 56.7 kg.
Among the people she communicates with via message who are also on weight loss diets, “everyone is very happy” and only one person takes a branded drug, Wegovy, also made by Denmark’s Novo Nordisk.
“Good about myself”
The American authorities drew attention at the end of October that “(pharmaceutical) preparations pose an increased risk to patients compared to FDA-approved drugs” because they “do not undergo pre-market evaluation for safety, effectiveness or quality.”
The FDA has “received reports of adverse events following the use of semaglutide in preparations,” it says on its website, without providing further details.
A simple online search shows that several companies offer mail-order slimming supplements with prices much lower than brand-name drugs, but not necessarily more affordable for those who have health insurance that covers FDA-approved medications.
Marissa Montanino paid $300 for three months of treatment, but as the dosage gradually increased, that could become $300 a month.
The Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly laboratories, which already make billions of dollars from their drugs, are keen to ensure that these molecules are no longer considered “scarce” and to strengthen their production capabilities.
The two companies have also filed several complaints against laboratories that produce preparations similar to their products.
Despite the uncertainty, Ms. Montanino plans to continue this treatment “for life,” if possible.
She celebrated her weight loss and that of her husband, who lost 22 kg, with new wedding photos.
“I feel good. I am very happy with how my clothes fit me. I hate to say it… But it makes me feel better.”
The new generation of anti-obesity drugs
Wegovy, Mounjaro, Ozempic… These drugs are panicking the pharmaceutical industry and raising the hopes of millions of patients around the world: they treat diabetes, help you lose weight and can be used to treat obesity. What are they, what do they process, who produces them?
The class of GLP-1 analogues
These drugs mimic a hormone GLP-1 (short for Glugaco-like peptide 1) secreted by the intestines, which stimulates insulin secretion and suppresses appetite by providing a feeling of satiety.
People use these medications to treat type 2 diabetes, the most common form, and/or to lose weight.
They are usually administered by weekly injection, but pharmaceutical companies such as Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly and Pfizer are trying to develop tablets that are swallowed daily.
These treatments can cause side effects such as nausea, vomiting and gastrointestinal upset.
Wegovy and Ozempic at Novo Nordisk
In Denmark’s Novo Nordisk, the world’s leading diabetes company, the semaglutide molecule is used in the anti-obesity drug Wegovy and the type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic.
Wegovy has been approved in the USA since 2021. It is marketed in Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom and, more recently, Switzerland. The laboratory plans to apply for certification in France in 2024.
Ozempic has been approved in the United States since 2017. It recently sold out after causing a stir on social media for its weight-loss properties.
In the USA alone, Wegovy and Ozempic are expected to generate sales of 8.1 billion US dollars (7.4 billion euros) and 2.1 billion US dollars (1.9 billion euros), respectively, by 2031, according to an im GlobalData published a report in March.
Mounjaro and Zepbound at Eli Lilly
Eli Lilly’s molecule tirzepatide has been marketed under the name Mounjaro for people with type 2 diabetes since US health regulators gave it the green light in 2022. It is sometimes prescribed outside of official recommendations with the sole aim of losing weight.
But since November 8th, this molecule has also been approved for the treatment of obesity, in the USA under the name Zepbound.
Zepbound is aimed at obese and overweight people with comorbidities (type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure).
The price was set by Eli Lilly at $1,060 (972 EUR) per month.