The rush on Ozempic has angered many diabetes patients. The active ingredient, semaglutide, helps overweight people lose weight. Diabetic patients, for whom Ozempic was primarily developed, fell victim to the hype. As a result, there is a serious shortage of the medicine to this day. Now there are also shortages of a second drug for diabetes patients: Trulicity. The Federal Medicines Agency (FAMHP), just like with Ozempic, speaks of a “critical unavailability” because there is no alternative to the drug.
Trulicity comes in a pre-filled syringe, just like Ozempic. The active ingredients of Trulicity (dulaglutide) and Ozempic (semaglutide) are also similar. The substances both imitate GLP-1, a hormone that is formed in the intestines as soon as carbohydrates arrive through food. GLP-1 stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin, so that blood sugar remains under control.
Is Trulicity the new Ozempic? “No, it is not the case that obese people switch to Trulicity because Ozempic can no longer be prescribed to everyone,” says Luc Van Gaal, professor emeritus of endocrinology at the University Hospital of Antwerp. “Trulicity is exclusively prescribed to patients with diabetes. But because the demand for Ozempic is so high, doctors are switching to Trulicity for their patients with diabetes. The rush to Ozempic therefore indirectly contributes to Trulicity’s shortage.”
According to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), there were already shortages of Trulicity in other European countries last fall due to the increased demand for the medicine.
The hype surrounding Ozempic as a means of losing weight continues to cause stress among diabetes patients, says Inge Everaert, staff member at the Diabetes League. “And not only with patients, but also with pharmacists and doctors who have desperate patients in front of them and have to look for solutions. The situation now is completely different than a few years ago. There were never any major problems with diabetes medications back then. In the meantime, the pharmaceutical companies are scaling up their production, but that will of course take some time.”
“Limited availability” until December
In Belgium, several injection pens containing Trulicity are on the market with different doses of the medicine. According to the FAMHP, one specific injection pen with Trulicity is completely unavailable today and others will have “limited availability” until at least mid-December. Because this is an “essential” medicine, for which there is no alternative available, pharmacists are not allowed to stock too much and only give patients the amount for one month at most.
The shortages of diabetes medicines raise the question of whether the measures taken by Minister of Health Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit) are really that effective. Last fall, Vandenbroucke decided that Ozempic should no longer be prescribed to everyone. Patients with diabetes will still receive the drug, but obese patients will only be eligible if they suffer from severe obesity (BMI at least 35) or obesity (BMI at least 30) in combination with a weight-related condition .
Van Gaal: “Treatment with Ozempic is now less effective for patients with obesity than before that measure. But the pressure on Ozempic and also Trulicity will remain high until Wegovy finally comes to market. This drug contains the same active substance as Ozempic, but has been explicitly approved for obese patients. I fear that we will have to wait until the autumn for Wegovy in Belgium.”
