Tightening belts
When set against that not-insignificant backdrop, it’s perhaps too soon to say whether weight loss drugs — or diabetes drugs that make you lose weight — could provide a lasting answer to the US obesity issue. However, with annual courses of Mounjaro and Wegovy reportedly setting users back$12,000 and $16,000, respectively, it’s doubtful any potential solutions would reach far across different financial groups at current price points. Like many other weight loss methods before them, the drugs have been creating a bit of a buzz — this time amplified by social media.
HealthTok
At the time of writing, videos tagged with #ozempic have garnered over 1.2 billion views on TikTok. That level of hype has been blamed for causing a national shortage of the drug, leaving some diabetic Americans without the medication that they’ve relied on for years. Wegovy and Mounjaro have been experiencing similar moments in the social media spotlight too, and the increased attention has been accompanied by a swathe of scrutiny too.
A new analysis published just days ago, for instance, suggested that around two-thirds of patients ditch weight loss drugs like Wegovy within a year. News that an EU drug regulator would be widening the focus of its investigation into Novo Nordisk’s drugs and their reported suicidal side effects by taking other manufacturers into account also broke this week, in another potentially damaging sign for the burgeoning treatments.
Easy come, easy go
Indeed, while the new wave of medication is generating a lot of hype, which could well be valid given the reported success from some patients, it's no guarantee of longevity in such a market filled with fads. Food plans and programs that once promised to rock the dieting scene have come and gone over the years. The low-carb Atkins diet, for example, was immensely popular through the late 90s and early 2000s, though it’s since faded into obscurity, and similar fates have awaited the paleo, or caveman, diet as well as the keto diet which really exploded at the end of the 2010s.
Given the scale of the opportunity, if Ozempic and its peers do prove to be more than a fad, big pharma will have little issue diverting resources to make sure that supply can eventually keep up with the insatiable demand.
