Dec. 20, 2024
The Food and Drug Administration said that a nationwide shortage of Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Mounjaro has been resolved, eliminating the need for copycat versions of the drugs that have become wildly popular with Americans trying to lose weight. Zepbound is FDA-approved to treat obesity and Mounjaro is approved for diabetes. They use the same active ingredient, tirzepatide.
The FDA said Thursday that “Lilly’s supply is currently meeting or exceeding demand,” after two years of shortages. Thursday’s decision gives businesses between 60 and 90 days, depending on their size, to phase out their products.
The FDA permits compounded versions of brand name drugs when they are in shortage, and the shift back to Lilly’s medications could improve safety for consumers. The FDA warned patients last year about problems with the ingredients and formulations of some GLP-1 drugs sold online. The agency has limited oversight of compounding pharmacies, which are primarily overseen by state authorities.
Demand for off-brand GLP-1 drugs has been amplified by aggressive online promotions from telehealth companies, which aren’t subject to the same marketing rules as drug makers.
Commentary
The bonanza for compounding pharmacies will soon be over, as Marketdata predicted earlier this year. The short term era of cheap GLP-1 meds will soon be over. So, how will dieters adjust? They’ll have to pay more for the brand name meds, sticker shock. Will millions of people on these meds suddenly stop taking them, or pay the higher price? Time will tell. At the very least, many of the telehealth companies that have based their operating model on compounded drugs will go out of business or see their revenues plummet. MDs and med spas will also take a hit. The profit opportunists will be weeded out of the market, and that’s a good thing.
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