Ozempic vs Wegovy: Exploring the Weight-Loss Hype of 2023

Since the diabetes drug Ozempic created a real weight-loss hype, it has become increasingly popular. This also applies to the slimming drug Wegovy. How do these medications work and what is the difference between the two?

It was according to the scientific journal Science the breakthrough of 2023: the type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic. As early as 2017, the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk received permission from the medicines authority to market it. So why is it only labeled Science Breakthrough of the Year six years later? This has everything to do with the fact that the medicine has a rather favorable side effect: people lose weight. How is that possible?

Also read:

How does Ozempic work?

People with type 2 diabetes have become insensitive to insulin, a hormone that is produced in the pancreas and lowers blood sugar levels. As a result, it can no longer ensure that sugar is absorbed from the blood into the tissues and that the production of sugar by the liver is inhibited. The concentration of sugar in the blood increases: diabetes occurs – with all its consequences.

When the standard treatment – ​​healthy diet and sufficient exercise – does not help, doctors can prescribe Ozempic to diabetes patients. The active substance is semaglutide, which lowers blood sugar levels.

But semaglutide also imitates the intestinal hormone GLP-1, which transmits signals to the brain, making you feel full and causing the stomach to empty more slowly. In other words, the substance reduces the feeling of hunger and that is beneficial for obese patients. On average, people lose 5 to 10 percent of the weight, all thanks to one injection per week in the abdomen, thigh or arm.

What is the difference with Wegovy?

Several celebrities, including Kim Kardashian and Elon Musk, also started using Ozempic, and promoted the drug on social media. Because more and more doctors are using the medicine off label prescribed – in other words, for a reason other than what it was approved for – non-diabetic patients could also use it. The result: diabetes patients themselves made a mistake.

Novo Nordisk had a turnover of more than 31 billion euros in 2023, of which almost 29 billion was accounted for by Ozempic and Wegovy.

That is why Novo Nordisk now also produces a variant of Ozempic, called Wegovy, which is only prescribed to overweight people. Wegovy and Ozempic are in fact the same medicine: they both contain the active ingredient semaglutide. The only difference is that the dose of active substance is higher in Wegovy. In addition, Novo Nordisk recently acquired three Ozempic production sites from a competitor. The pharmaceutical company hopes to be able to reduce shortages in this way from 2026.

Ozempic is not the first drug that can also be used for another condition. Many existing medicines are used for conditions other than those for which they were originally developed. You can read more about it in KIJK 4/2024. This edition will be on shelves from March 14.

Sources: NOS, BBC News, de Volkskrant

Beeld: Lise Aaserud/NTB/ANP

2024-02-12 14:00:07
#Diet #hype #Wegovy #slimming #drug #work