U.S Supply of Weight Loss Drug Wegovy Should Increase This Year
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Patients who haven’t been able to start taking the weight loss drug Wegovy due to shortages may find it’s easier to access the medicine this year.
“During the last year, it has been incredibly hard to get the starting doses of Wegovy, and in the last few months it has been impossible to get any doses of Wegovy other than 2.4 milligrams (mg),” says Shauna Levy, MD, medical director of the Tulane Weight Loss Center in New Orleans.
Wegovy comes in five different doses. Patients are directed to start with 0.25 mg injections, and gradually increase the dose every four weeks until they reach a maintenance dose of 1.7 mg or 2.4 mg, according to the company.
Getting that very low initial dose is key for a successful start to treatment, says Adam Gilden, MD, an associate professor of obesity medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora.
‘Waiting to Start’
“There are tons of people waiting to start Wegovy,” adds Dr. Levy, who has served as a consultant for Novo Nordisk. “We cannot wait for the starter doses to be back — it’s going to make my job so much easier.”
Lower Doses Minimize Side Effects When Starting Wegovy
“Lower doses are necessary because side effects are expected if we start at a higher dose,” Dr. Gilden says.
For much of the past year, people unable to get those starter doses had few options to take other GLP-1 drugs due to a combination of factors including shortages, limited insurance coverage, and high out-of-pocket costs, Levy says. Even the FDA approval last fall of another GLP-1 drug for weight loss, Zepbound (tirzepatide), didn’t help all the patients who wanted these medicines, she says.
“Among those insurers that do cover GLP-1 for obesity, many only cover Wegovy and not the newer medication Zepbound,” Levy says. “Thus, many patients who could have access to GLP-1 drugs cannot get them because of the Wegovy shortage since other options aren’t approved.”
Increased supplies of Wegovy starter doses should allow many patients who have been waiting for months to start treatment to finally get going, Gilden says. There are “definitely” a lot of people who fall into this category, he adds. “There is pent-up demand.”
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