Semaglutide injections will no longer be sold at compounding pharmacies after May 22
PHOENIX - Compounding pharmacies will no longer be allowed to create semaglutide injections, a generic and cheaper version of Ozempic and Wegovy.
This comes after a judge rejected a bid by these pharmacies to keep selling the mixture.
Local perspective:
A few months ago, Melrose Pharmacy in Phoenix began selling a compounded version of semaglutide injections.
Come May 22, owner Teresa Dickinson no longer can. It was news she wasn't thrilled to hear.
"It’s a struggle to stay in business right now as it is, and if you take the semaglutide injections away, it will definitely make things a lot tighter to stay in business," she said.
Compound pharmacies were originally allowed to make similar versions of brands like Ozempic and Wegovy because the FDA declared a shortage. But, in February, the FDA declared the shortage over.
On April 24, a federal judge rejected a bid by compounding pharmacies to continue selling the less expensive versions.
"This affects the patient. It's all about the patients and being able to get these GLP-1s. They have been working very successfully on helping people lose weight. When people lose weight, they are healthier, they don’t have diabetes and they don’t have cardiac conditions, so it’s just healthier for the patients, so they’re the ones losing out. There is a supply that they can get of the commercially available product, but if you’re paying cash it’s going to be well over $1,200 for a month's supply," Dickinson explained.
That's opposed to the $225 a month compounded product.
She will still sell the commercial products, like Ozempic and Wegovy, and will continue selling an oral form of the semaglutide. This is allowed because it's not available commercially.
"We are able to have semaglutide compounded as a sublingual form that will be available after May 22," Dickinson said.
Pharmacies could face enforcement action if they continue to compound and sell semaglutide.
What you can do:
Click here to learn more about this from the FDA.