What is Ozempic? When will the oral version of the weight loss drug be available?
Demand for Ozempic has skyrocketed as the public becomes more familiar with the drug. However, many potential patients are waiting for an oral version to begin taking it.
Ozempic is the latest weight loss miracle drug that may soon be made more widely available to the general public. To date, the drug has mostly been prescribed to Type 2 diabetics to lower their blood sugar. However, after some doctors noticed its weight loss benefits, celebrities have been lining up to begin their course of Ozempic. Currently, the medication must be injected, but some pharmaceutical companies are planning on releasing a pill version, which could be made available sometime this year.
Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Saxenda are highly effective drugs for weight loss and are FDA-approved. Ozempic and Mounjaro are specifically meant to treat type 2 diabetes, while Saxenda and Wegovy are prescribed for weight loss purposes.
But what happens if you take Ozempic for weight loss? Here’s what sports Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Richard Lehman told Fox News: “You definitely decrease your appetite, and you feel full pretty much all the time, and you don’t really crave sugar because you don’t get the sugar high or sugar low.”
What is Ozempic and what does it work for?
Semaglutide drugs work by imitating a gut hormone known as glucagon-like peptide hormone, or GLP. According to Dr. Amanda Velazquez, who works for Weight Management and Metabolic Health in Los Angeles, this drug “makes that gut hormone work better to enhance communication between the gut and the brain and make us feel fuller and also help with reducing appetite.” Our bodies often work to maintain weight as rapid weight loss can be a sign of distress, and the drug works by “telling the body it’s okay to be at a lower set point.”
Velazquez says she would prescribe these highly-effective drugs to patients with a BMI between 27 and 30 – classified as overweight – or patients who have a weight-related medical condition, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or sleep apnea.
“The goal is not to make someone not eat,” explained the doctor. Instead, those on Ozempic may find it easier to “navigate and manage what they’re eating” in order to make “healthier choices and feel fuller with those options.”
The use of Ozempic as a weight loss drug has not been approved by the FDA, leaving many questions about its long-term effects on the body. There is limited information on whether individuals can maintain weight loss after discontinuing the drug. Medical professionals are particularly interested in the impact of Ozempic on muscle mass for those who do not exercise. While shedding fat can improve cardiovascular health, losing muscle could have negative consequences on overall health despite weight loss.
When will a pill form of the drug be made available?
Some prospective patients are interested in taking the drug but want to wait until a pill form of the medication is available.
Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical company that developed Ozempic, conducted a clinical trial that lasted sixty-eight months, evaluating the weight loss impacts of a pill version of the drug. After the trial concluded, the executive vice president for Development, Martin Holst Lange said that the company was “very pleased with the weight loss demonstrated by the once-daily oral formulation of semaglutide in [treating] obesity.” Novo Nordisk reported that the results were consistent with the impacts found with the injectable version of the drug.
A release date for the pill has yet to be made public because the company still needs to submit the results to regulating authorities to obtain approval. “Novo Nordisk expects to file for regulatory approval in the US and the EU in 2023. The global launch of oral semaglutide 50 mg is contingent on portfolio prioritisations and manufacturing capacity,” said the company in the press release.