Popular Weight Loss Drugs To Become More Expensive As Shortage Ends

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration declared that a two-year shortage of tripeptide was over . Tirzepatide is the active ingredient in the popular weight-loss medication Zepbound and the diabetes drug Mounjaro, which is also used off-label to help with weight loss.

Over the past two years, a large number of Americans began taking the drugs to help lose weight because they suddenly became affordable due to the shortage . Under federal law, if a drug is in short supply, compounding pharmacies can step in and make generic versions of the drugs at a fraction of the cost.

According to CNN , Mounjaro and Zepbound cost around $1,100 per month without insurance. The drugs' manufacturer, Eli Lilly, does offer discounts to make them more affordable, but they can still cost between $500 and $650 a month. However, a one-month supply of medication from a compounding pharmacy can cost between $200 and $400 per month.

Now that the shortage is over, many people who have been using the popular drugs to successfully lose weight may find themselves on the hook for higher costs, which may not be covered by health insurance.

"Price is not a rationale for dispensing a compounded medication, but the fact is, a lot of patients were able to afford the compounded versions of tirzepatide, and they're likely not going to be able to afford the FDA-approved drug," Scott Brunner , chief executive officer of the Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding, told CNN .

Other weight-loss drugs, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, which use semaglutide as the active ingredient, are still in shortage and can be made at compounding pharmacies. However, not everybody can just switch from one medication to the other.

Novo Nordisk, the company that makes both drugs, said it is working to boost the supply of semaglutide but did not say when it expects the shortage to end.