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The end of the Zepbound shortage is in sight, according to Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of the popular weight loss drug.
The pharma giant’s CEO David Ricks told Bloomberg on Thursday that Zepbound will no longer be in shortage “very soon.” He added, “I think actually today or tomorrow we plan to exit that process.”
The news could threaten sellers of off-brand or compounded versions of the medication. Wall Street estimates that the market for these copy-cat drugs has likely reached $1 billion, Bloomberg reports.
Skyrocketing demand for Zepbound and other weight loss drugs like Wegovy have transformed Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk into the most valuable pharmaceutical companies in the world. However, increased demand has also made it difficult for some patients to get their prescriptions filled.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially declared doses of Zepbound and Mounjaro, the version of the drug used to treat diabetes, in limited supply this April.
As of today, the FDA still lists some doses of Zepbound and Mounjaro in shortage. This has opened the door for pharmacists and telehealth platforms to sell cheaper versions of these highly coveted treatments.
When a medication is in shortage, the FDA allows pharmacies to make compounded, or altered, versions of the drug if they meet specific regulatory requirements. However, the agency does not review the safety and efficacy of these products.
Still, some healthcare companies are going all-in on compounded weight loss drugs.
The millenial-skewed telehealth platform Hims & Hers, which sells compounded versions of Ozempic and Wegovy, recently added Kåre Schultz, a longtime Novo Nordisk executive, to its board of directors.
Schultz told Bloomberg that the company has a “long future” in selling compounded semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy. When asked if pharmacies will still be able to make compounded semaglutide after the shortages end, Schulz said he wasn’t worried because there would still be cases where patients need individualized prescriptions.
The FDA expects doses of Wegovy to be in limited supply indefinitely.