One dose of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy back in supply, FDA website shows
(Reuters) -The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's website showed on Monday one dose of Novo Nordisk's weight-loss drug Wegovy as available after being in short supply, while three other doses remained in limited availability due to increased demand.
The website listed the 1.7 milligram (mg) dose as available — making that and the 2.4 mg dose of the drug available for supply. But lower doses of 1 mg, 0.5 mg and 0.25 mg were still listed as in shortage.
"We are aware that another manufacturer has communicated supply shortages for its obesity medicine, which may have implications for Wegovy demand," the Danish drugmaker told Reuters in an emailed response.
"We are actively producing and shipping all dose strengths of Wegovy into the U.S. market," the company said.
Increasing demand for a type of highly effective diabetes and weight-loss treatment known as GLP-1 agonists has led to supply constraints for drugmakers such as Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.
"Novo will continue to follow its plan to gradually increase overall supply throughout the rest of the year, but it's important to recognize that overall demand will continue to exceed supply. This means that some patients may still have difficulty filling Wegovy prescriptions," it said.
An update on the health regulator's website earlier this month showed most doses of Lilly's diabetes drug Mounjaro and weight-loss drug Zepbound would be in limited supply through the second quarter of this year due to increased demand.
(Reporting by Sriparna Roy and Pratik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
