Danish drug developer Novo Nordisk on Wednesday (February 1) warned of supply constraints on its best-selling drug.
The company, which develops diabetes and obesity drugs, said it expected "periodic supply constraints" this year, partly driven by higher than expected demand for
its blockbuster diabetes drug, Ozempic, and manufacturing constraints.
"Supply of Ozempic cannot keep up with demand in some markets," Novo's Chief Financial Officer Karsten Munk Knudsen told journalists on Wednesday, but said Ozempic
was available in the United States, the firm's biggest single market.
Shortages of human growth hormone would also cause sales in its rare disease franchise to drop by a "mid-single digit" percentage in 2023, as its Norditropin drug
would be out of stock in certain markets, Knudsen said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a warning on Thursday regarding falsified semaglutide medications used for treating type 2 diabetes and obesity
in select countries.
This WHO Medical Product Alert addresses three falsified batches of the specific brand Ozempic that were detected in Brazil (October 2023), the United Kingdom
and Northern Ireland (October 2023), and the United States (December 2023). These falsified semaglutide products were distributed through the regulated supply chain.
Novo Nordisk, the genuine manufacturer of Ozempic, confirmed that the three products mentioned in the alert are falsified and were not produced by the company.
Healthcare professionals, regulatory authorities and the public are advised to remain vigilant regarding these falsified batches of medicines.
Dr Yukiko Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General for Access to Medicines and Health Products, urged stakeholders to stop any usage of suspicious medicines and
report them to relevant authorities.
It has been reported that several Austrians have been taken to the hospital after injecting fake Ozempic, as confirmed by health regulator.
Austria's Federal Office for Safety in Health Care (BASG) confirmed that the patients have suffered hypoglycaemia and seizures.
It is believed that the injections contained insulin instead of the weight loss drug, semaglutide.
The health regulator has urged doctors and patients to verify their medication stocks.
Amid the rapid rise in semaglutide usage, a study has suggested a potential risk of a rare eye condition associated with the weight loss drug.
Semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA), is available under the brand name Ozempic (by Novo Nordisk) in a lower-dose form for managing
type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and as Wegovy (also by Novo Nordisk) in a higher-dose form for weight management in patients with high body mass indexes.
Anecdotal evidence has indicated that semaglutide might be linked to nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION).
To investigate this potential connection, researchers in the United States analysed data over a six-year period from nearly 17,000 neuro-ophthalmology patients at
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, all of whom had no prior history of NAION.