Ozempic

Written By Amrit Parida

GOAL: Understand what Ozempic and related drugs do to the body, why there is such a craze for them, and what this means for the future of weight loss.

Part One: What is Ozempic?

Ozempic, known generically as Semaglutide, is a injectable drug manufactured by Novo Nordisk approved in 2017 by the FDA to be taken weekly by adults with type 2 diabetes.

  • Ozempic is also approved to reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke, or death in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus and known heart disease.

  • Semaglutide belongs to a class of medications known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, or GLP-1 RAs. It mimics the GLP-1 hormone, released in the gut in response to eating.

  • The GLP-1 hormone increases insulin levels leading to a decrease in blood sugar levels, which is why it’s extremely effective in treating type 2 diabetes

  • GLP-1 in higher levels can interact with the brain to dramatically suppress your appetite and make you feel full

Semaglutide also offers a range of other benefits for adults with type 2 diabetes and heart disease, from cardiovascular protection to reduced stroke risk

Part Two: Weight Loss through wegovy

In 2021, a new drug also from Novo Nordisk with a higher dose of semaglutide was approved by the FDA specifically for weight loss: Wegovy

  • This spawned a worldwide, celebrity driven phenomena of people without diabetes capitalizing on the effects of semaglutide in Ozempic and Wegovy to drive weight loss

  • Many celebrities such as Elon Musk, Mindy Kaling, Oprah and Charles Barkley have praised the effects of the drug

Reported side effects include nausea, dehydration and fatigue, with more rare and serious cases of increased likelihood of pancreatitis and gallstones forming

Part Three: Pricing

Ozempic is intended only for adults with type 2 diabetes, while Wegovy is meant for adults with obesity and one other “weight-related condition” such as diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol

  • As a result, many people do not meet the FDA criteria for their insurance to cover the drug, meaning they will have to pay the full, uninsured price for them - Approximately $892 / monthly supply for Ozempic, and $1,300 / monthly supply of Wegovy

  • Despite these high costs, massive shortages are being observed as the people who need the drug are struggling to get access to it

    PART 4: The future of weight loss

  • The weight loss industry is struggling to keep up, as weight loss giants like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig are struggling in the face of this new wave of anti-obesity drugs

  • New drugs are on the horizon, such as Mounjaro, which promise even more effective weight loss without side effects

  • Tirzepatide, known generically as Mounjaro, is manufactured by Eli Lilly and Co as a new contender in the anti-obesity space

  • Mounjaro uses a new approach to creating an anti-obesity drug by combining both GIP and GLP-1 into a “chimeric peptide” which is more powerful than just using GLP-1

  • GIP can actually increase glucagon secretion and blood sugar levels, so at first glance it seems contradictory to use it as an anti-obesity tool; however, when combined with GLP-1, studies show it can be an even more effective weight loss drug than Wegovy or Ozempic which only uses a GLP-1 hormone







Amrit Parida
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