What’s the story on Semaglutide?

happy woman standing on scale. semaglutide weightcare

If ever there was a time for Americans to lose weight it is now.

Not because everyone needs to lose weight, many people are just fine. But if the Covid pandemic left you with an extra 20 to 30 pounds at the beltline, a relatively new weekly injectable medication is making weight loss easier than ever. If you haven’t heard of the blockbuster drug Wegovy, that’s OK, you are certain to see more stories about it in the future. With media claims of people losing 8 to 12 pounds a month, coupled with an attractive safety profile and minimal side effects (largely queasiness and burping), Wegovy has taken center stage with most medical weight loss clinics and many medical spas.

There’s an old adage among physicians that a doctor never should want to be the first nor the last to prescribe a new medication.

Honestly I never wrote prescriptions much for the brand name Wegovy. It is expensive ($1400 a month), has very restrictive insurance coverage and there is an ongoing national supply shortage that makes it often times harder to find than infant formula was last year. The game changer however is Wegovy’s generic alternative, known as compounded Semaglutide. Thanks to an emergency FDA ruling, pharmacists are allowed to prepare generic alternatives to Wegovy and then sell them at a fraction of the price of the brand name. Fortunately this has greatly boosted supply, and demand for compounded Semaglutide is now at an all-time high.

So how does Semaglutide work?

This medication mimics a peptide made by the gut when we are full, called GLP-1. One of its effects is that it causes the liver to go into ketosis. You can do a keto diet on your own with intermittent fasting, cutting out all the carbs, etc., but this once weekly injectable medication tends to put you into a much stronger ketosis than you can do on your own.

There is the chance that the FDA may soon revoke the emergency ruling; that will put things into a tailspin because compounded Semaglutide supplies will certainly dry up, leaving only brand-name Wegovy available at a much higher cost.

This is probably a good time to call your physician and drop that 30-40 pounds once and for all!

–John Bender, MD, MBA, FAAFP, is CEO of Miramont Wellness Centers, Fort Collins