From Ozempic to Wegovy: Ensuring Your Weight Loss Prescription is Authentic
The more popular or costly the drug, the bigger the gray market, the more middlemen clamoring for it, and the more criminal opportunity.
– Katherine Eban, Why Counterfeit Ozempic Is a Global-Growth Industry
“It must be Ozempic. She looks great!”
“He’s got Ozempic face.”
“You’re having trouble eating right and exercising? Have you tried Ozempic?”
Joining the ranks of Kleenex and Coke, Ozempic is the newest kid on the proprietary eponym block. Meaning it’s popular. Very popular. So much so that the frenzy has resulted in shortages as an increasingly obese populace lines up for their promised miracle weight-loss solution. If they can’t get their hands on Ozempic, there are a host of similar drugs – Wegovy, Zepbound, Mounjaro, Rybelsus, Saxenda, Victoza – that are just a prescription away. For many, Ozempic alternatives promise price relief (Ozempic is around $12,000 a year without insurance coverage despite a study finding it could be manufactured for less than $60 a year). Compounding pharmacies offer “generic versions” of the active ingredients semaglutide, tirzepatide, and liraglutide – all members of the celebrated GLP-1 agonists drug class prescribed to type 2 diabetics and those pursuing weight loss. Medspas and online pharmacies join the chorus with attractive ads that read similar to how one would be sold a phone plan or a home cleaning service: “50% Off First Six Months!” “$99 First Month Cost!” “Save up to 80% - Ozempic 4th of July Sale - $100 Off!”
With chaotic demand come morally dubious players ravenous to get a piece of the pie. Katherine Eban’s recent Vanity Fair investigation illustrates how elusive quality control becomes in such an environment, detailing adverse events such as seizures, blood clots, and even deaths among unsuspecting patients. In December 2023, the United States FDA warned consumers that counterfeit Ozempic had been found in the legitimate U.S. drug supply chain, with “counterfeit components” ranging from dosage and packaging inconsistencies to questionable needles and falsified patient and health care professional information. FDA reports cite cases where American patients fell victim to counterfeit Ozempic, suffering “loss of consciousness” and “swelling of the throat and face.”
Read in Vanity Fair: Why Counterfeit Ozempic Is a Global-Growth Industry
Eban’s investigation exposes the scale (and alarming sophistication) of the counterfeit industry and how they pounce on markets – not just the United States – during shortages by enticing pharmacies and wholesalers with attractive prices for high-demand products. Fake versions of Ozempic have surfaced in multiple countries, from Lebanon and Serbia to Belgium and the United Kingdom. She includes horrifying incidents involving Austrian patients hospitalized or experiencing seizures due to counterfeit Ozempic originating in Turkey and distributed through the UK and Germany.
Counterfeiting is certainly nothing new, but now, Eban notes, the scale of counterfeiters has reached the infrastructure of entire countries:
Russian organized crime has moved into the Canadian online pharmacy space. China’s government is openly subsidizing companies that illegally buy and sell the ingredients for synthetic fentanyl. And counterfeit versions of cancer drugs including Keytruda and Avastin have been traced to Turkey.”
Consumers across the world are interested in access to Ozempic. They reach out to PharmacyChecker almost daily, convinced we can help them find a legitimate source to order it online from Turkey, Canada, India, etc. This is not the case. PharmacyChecker’s International Pharmacy Verification Program holds pharmacies in its network to strict standards for the shipment of refrigerated products. No online pharmacy accredited in our program is authorized to market refrigerated weight loss injectables like Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, and Mounjaro. Rybelsus, which is semaglutide in tablet form, is the only weight loss product meeting PharmacyChecker Verification Program safety standards for international shipment. While all medicines are temperature sensitive to a degree, tablets like Rybelsus do not necessitate the specialized storage conditions of injectables to maintain efficacy. Additionally, patients will not find an online pharmacy in the PharmacyChecker Verification Program that waives the need for a prescription. PharmacyChecker requires that pharmacies only dispense medicine after receiving a legitimate prescription and checking patient medical history and drug interactions, among other criteria.
This distinction of PharmacyChecker-accredited online pharmacies and its high standards of pharmacy practice is incredibly important. Our verification work safeguards consumers pursuing affordable medicines, both domestically and globally. The majority of the world’s counterfeits come from Turkey, China, Mexico, India, and the UK, and, although Ozempic is not available via a pharmacy accredited in our International Pharmacy Verification Program, Eban’s reporting makes clear that the danger spans far beyond rogue actors posing as legitimate pharmacies online. According to her findings, some counterfeiters attempt replication of semaglutide, but too common in the U.S. is a patient injecting insulin that is relabeled to look like Ozempic. The result of a nondiabetic injecting insulin can result in irreversible brain damage.
Related: The Rise of Ozempic and Wegovy: High Demand Necessitates a Cautious Consumer
Vigilance regarding the appearance of the solution itself, in addition to the labeling and key facts about its manufacture is crucial for patient safety. Below, PharmacyChecker provides information about what to verify when receiving your prescription for the following popular weight loss drugs: Ozempic, Rybelsus, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound.
Identify Ozempic (semaglutide)
Marketing Authorization Holder: Novo Nordisk
Manufacturer location (for U.S. market): Denmark
Label: If you live in the United States, the labels are either teal, yellow, or red.
Appearance: Clear, colorless solution available in 3 pre-filled, disposable, single-patient-use pens.
Do not use Ozempic if it looks cloudy or contains particles.
Do not use it if the pen appears to have been used or any part of the pen appears broken, for example if it has been dropped.
Savings (U.S. residents only): Compare Ozempic Discount Coupons
Image source: National Library of Medicine - Ozempic (semaglutide) injection, solution
Identify Rybelsus (semaglutide)
Marketing Authorization Holder: Novo Nordisk
Manufacturer Location (for U.S. market): Denmark
Label: If you live in the United States, the label will either be green, blue, blush, or pink.
Appearance (U.S. market): Color of the tablet is white to light yellow; Shape is oval; Size is 14 mm; Imprint: strength on one side, “novo” on the other. Because Rybelsus comes in pill form, U.S. pharmacies will count it out to put your prescribed quantity into a bottle.
If you order from an international online pharmacy, the pills will come in the original manufacturer’s blister packs. Appearance may differ across markets.
Savings (Global): Compare Rybelsus Prices
Related: How to Save Money on Rybelsus (oral semaglutide)
Image source: National Library of Medicine - Rybelsus oral semaglutide tablets
Identify Wegovy (semaglutide)
Marketing Authorization Holder: Novo Nordisk
Manufacturer location (for U.S. market): Denmark
Label: U.S. labels are turquoise, pink, burnt orange, blue, dark gray.
Appearance: Clear, colorless solution available in 5 pre-filled, disposable, single-dose pens
Do not use if Wegovy is not clear and colorless through the pen window.
Do not use Wegovy if the pen appears to have been used or any part of the pen appears broken, for example if it has been dropped.
Savings (U.S. residents only): Compare Wegovy Discount Coupons
Image source: National Library of Medicine - Wegovy (semaglutide) injection, solution
Identify Mounjaro (tirzepatide)
Marketing Authorization Holder: Eli Lilly and Company
Manufacturing Location (for U.S. market): Indiana
Label (U.S. market): jungle green; fuschia; orange; purple and fuschia; dark grey; dark purple
Appearance of Mounjaro: Clear, colorless to slightly yellow solution in pre-filled single-dose pens or single-dose vials. Do not use if particulate matter or discoloration is seen.Do not use if the pen appears to have been used or any part of the pen appears broken, for example if it has been dropped.
Savings (U.S. residents only): Compare Mounjaro Coupon Prices
Image source: National Library of Medicine - Mounjaro tirzepatide injection, solution
Identify Zepbound (tirzepatide)
Marketing Authorization Holder: Eli Lilly and Company
Manufacturing Location (for U.S. market): Indiana
Label (U.S. market): Lime green; lime green and jungle green; lime green and pink; lime green and dark purple; lime green and orange; lime green and teal; lime green and blue
Appearance: Clear, colorless to slightly yellow solution in pre-filled single-dose pens or single-dose vials.
Do not use Zepbound if it looks cloudy or contains particles. Do not use it if the pen appears to have been used or any part of the pen appears broken, for example if it has been dropped.
Savings (U.S. residents only): Compare Zepbound Discount Coupons
Image source: National Library of Medicine - Zepbound tirzepatide injection, solution
