We are enabling more new U.S. patients to initiate treatment by more than doubling the amount of the lower dose strengths of Wegovy^® into the U.S. market beginning in January 2024, while gradually increasing overall supply throughout the rest of the year. We expect it will take a couple of weeks for product to arrive in pharmacies.

Limiting quantities of the Wegovy^® lower dose strengths to U.S. wholesalers for distribution to retail pharmacies has been in an effort to support continuity of care for existing patients. There are multiple factors influencing the flow of patients through the dose escalation schedule that we cannot directly control.

We have served over one million U.S. patients with Wegovy^® since its approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2021, and more than 600,000 people in the US are currently taking this medicine to manage their weight. This represents the efforts we have put forward to help as many patients as we can while continuing to build production capacity, investing in new contract manufacturing organizations. We continue to build and invest in new manufacturing capacity. In 2024, we will - once again - significantly step up our investments in production. We plan to invest approximately $6.5 billion in production, compared to investments of approximately $3.6 billion last year.

We will closely monitor market dynamics and prescribing trends and will continue to manage shipments as best as possible in an effort to support continuity of care for patients. We expect this will require inventory management and allocation. In addition, it’s important to be aware that overall demand will continue to exceed supply which means that some patients may still have difficulty filling Wegovy^® prescriptions.

Given the high continued interest in Wegovy^®, we anticipate ongoing supply disruptions in the U.S., resulting in some patients having difficulty filling their Wegovy^® prescriptions. However, we are running our manufacturing lines 24 hours a day, seven days a week, are actively producing and shipping all dose strengths of Wegovy^® and continue to build production capacity.

We will closely monitor market dynamics and prescribing trends and will continue to manage shipments as best as possible in an effort to support continuity of care for patients.

We recommend that you contact your pharmacy much earlier than normal in anticipation of your next refill. This applies to online and walk-in pharmacies. If you are unable to obtain your specific dose strength, we encourage you to try other local pharmacies for availability. If that is not successful, speak with your healthcare professional about your treatment plan to determine the best course of action and options available. Healthcare professionals know their patients’ past and current medical history and are best equipped to make clinical recommendations.

We also recommend that healthcare professionals take into consideration the limited supply of Wegovy^® as part of their decision-making when initiating new patients on therapy, recognizing the possibility of disruption in care.

We recommend that you contact your pharmacy much earlier than normal in anticipation of your next refill. This applies to online and walk-in pharmacies. If you are unable to obtain your specific dose strength, we encourage you to try other local pharmacies for availability. Be specific about the dose strength you have been prescribed as pharmacies are handling all five Wegovy^® dose strengths and may need to order the specific dose you need. If that is not successful, speak with your healthcare professional about your treatment plan to determine the best course of action and options available. Healthcare professionals know their patients' past and current medical history and are best equipped to make clinical recommendations.

If you are interested in discussing Wegovy^®, a prescription-only medicine, with your healthcare professional, we recommend you take into consideration the limited supply of Wegovy^® as part of shared decision-making about initiating therapy, recognizing the possibility of disruption in care. In discussing with your healthcare professional whether to initiate therapy, keep in mind that Wegovy^® is indicated for chronic weight management and that, as discussed in the product label, patients who discontinued therapy in a clinical trial regained some weight after stopping treatment. 

There are five dose strengths of Wegovy^® – the first three increase in a stepwise manner (starting with 0.25 mg, then 0.5 mg, 1.0 mg) until the fourth (1.7 mg) and fifth (2.4 mg), maintenance dose strengths (2.4 mg is recommended per the Prescribing Information).

We recommend that Wegovy^® is used in accordance with the FDA-approved Prescribing Information, including the dose escalation schedule. If you are having difficulty finding the dose strength you need, please discuss the best course of action with your healthcare professional.

For more information about the Wegovy^® dosing schedule, see the Prescribing Information and Medication Guide.

Please know that our commitment to the obesity community is a long-term one and we are investing significantly to build capacity to meet this increasing demand, investing in new contract manufacturing organizations. We continue to build and invest in new manufacturing capacity. In 2024, we will - once again - significantly step up our investments in production. We plan to invest approximately $6.5 billion in production, compared to investments of approximately $3.6 billion last year.

We primarily distribute our products to wholesalers, which then supply retail pharmacies nationwide. Which specific pharmacies or retailers get Wegovy^® is determined by several factors outside of Novo Nordisk control, including wholesaler distribution and order fulfilment practice.

If you are unable to fill your Wegovy® prescription, you should speak with your healthcare professional about your treatment plan to determine the best course of action and options available. Healthcare professionals know your past and current medical history and are best equipped to make clinical recommendations.

Although Wegovy^® and Ozempic^® both contain semaglutide, they are different products with different indications, dosages, prescribing information, and titration schedules, as approved by the FDA. Each medication has a unique safety and efficacy profile which is detailed in its respective product label. The products are not interchangeable. We support our medicines being prescribed to patients who meet the indicated criteria and only promote the FDA-approved indications of our medicines for appropriate patients. Click here to read more about our commitment to the responsible use of our medicines.

We are aware that there are companies claiming to have availability of Wegovy^® or semaglutide. We want consumers and healthcare professionals to know and be very clear that Novo Nordisk does not sell Wegovy^®, or its active ingredient, semaglutide, for the purposes of compounding with other products. Novo Nordisk has not conducted studies to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Wegovy^® when compounded with other ingredients. Novo Nordisk is the only company that has FDA approval to market Wegovy^®, and we supply it in a disposable single-use pen available by prescription only. In addition, the FDA shared safety information on compounded semaglutide on their website. For more information, click here: Medications Containing Semaglutide Marketed for Type 2 Diabetes or Weight Loss | FDA.

Novo Nordisk is not supplying any telehealth companies with Wegovy^®. Any healthcare professionals prescribing Wegovy^® through telehealth companies will face the same supply challenges as all other healthcare professionals and patients across the U.S.

We see the growing trend of weight-management telehealth providers and have heard media reports that some telehealth providers are not providing sufficient clinical evaluations prior to prescribing semaglutide containing medicines, including Wegovy^® and Ozempic^®. Novo Nordisk medicines should only be prescribed after a close consultation between a licensed healthcare professional and a patient – considering the medication’s benefits and risks for that individual patient – and should only be taken under the supervision of a licensed healthcare professional.

At this time, we do not recommend Saxenda^® as a viable alternate treatment, as we cannot guarantee supply to match the continuous rising demand for weight-management medications, including Saxenda^®. 

We are aware that several compounding pharmacies, weight-loss clinics, and medical spas are claiming to sell or offer compounded semaglutide products. Novo Nordisk is actively monitoring and taking action against entities that are engaging in the unlawful sale of compounded semaglutide, disseminating false advertising, and infringing its trademarks. Novo Nordisk is the only company in the U.S. with FDA-approved products containing semaglutide, identified under the trade names Wegovy^®, Ozempic^®, and Rybelsus^®. No FDA-approved generic versions of semaglutide currently exist. Compounded products do not have the same safety, quality, and effectiveness assurances as our FDA-approved drugs, and may expose patients to health risks.

Novo Nordisk cannot validate the safety or effectiveness of products claiming to contain semaglutide that are not one of our own branded products. We are actively working to ensure broad public awareness regarding the difference between our FDA-approved products and other medicines being labeled as “semaglutide” and sold by such entities. Further, the practice of selling compounded semaglutide medicines under Novo Nordisk trade names has the potential to create consumer confusion and deception, and we will not tolerate the unauthorized and inappropriate usage of our brand trademarks by third parties.