PATIENTS who legitimately need compounded Ozempic should still have access to the medication, even if a government ban comes into effect, advises the Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF).
"CHF has been concerned about safety and quality issues linked to the compounding of Ozempic-like products since the issues were first raised in the media in late Feb," said CHF CEO Dr Elizabeth Deveny.
"But what we have also been hearing from consumers for a very long time now, is that there is absolutely a supply issue which is impacting those people who legitimately need it."
Insurer NIB's CEO and MD, Mark Fitzgibbon, concurs and told Pharmacy Daily, "we believe that an outright ban isn't ideal, given that many people use the drugs and supply remains tight".
"We think about 70,000 people use compounded weight loss medications, and our prescription service provider Midnight Health has about 8,000 customers using the medication."
He added NIB and Midnight Health have "rigorous safety standards around compounding, as do many pharmacists, who have been supporting their patients through the current supply shortage with high quality manufacturing processes".
In the Parliamentary Inquiry into Diabetes in Australia in Mar, Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Ozempic, gave evidence on the global shortage of these medicines.
"Novo Nordisk should have expected such a demand maybe five or six years ago, before we launched these products," said Dr Ana Svensson, Senior Director, Clinical, Medical and Regulatory, Oceania at the pharma company.
"None of us forecast that; we didn't have a crystal ball."
"What Novo Nordisk are committed to and what we are doing every day is building manufacturing sites like there's no tomorrow," added Svensson.
She mentioned Novo Nordisk invested close to US$10 billion (A$15 billion) last year, and has bought another global manufacturing site, which is another US$10 billion.
In 2023, Novo Nordisk stated it doubled the volume of its supply coming to Australia.
"I feel that this is a really good, significant improvement," commented Svensson.
"At the same time, I can tell you that, together with the TGA, we advise not starting new patients with type 2 diabetes and other indications on them, as we have a limited supply," she cautioned.
"Even though we doubled it, this [supply shortage] is going to be the case until the end of 2024.
"For the foreseeable future, we continue to expect that there will be an imbalance in that demand and supply," added Svensson.
CHF's Deveny believes the reliance on compounded Ozempic highlights the broader supply chain concerns currently in Australia.
"When it comes to compounding, the states are responsible for regulation and safety," she said.
"That doesn't make sense to us.
"We think there needs to be streamlined national regulation that ensures that all Australians can always count on receiving safe, high-quality medicines," commented Deveny. JG
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