COPENHAGEN, June 24 (Reuters) - Doctors in Denmark

should limit how many packs of Novo Nordisk's Ozempic

diabetes drug patients can pick up at one time, the Danish

Patient Safety Authority said on Monday, amid worries that some

may acquire a larger supply than needed.

Neighbouring Norway meanwhile said it would tighten

restrictions on the use of Ozempic, requiring doctors to seek

cost reimbursements on behalf of each individual patient rather

than an automatic coverage for all users.

Demand for the diabetes treatment has spiked as some people

take it for weight loss since it contains the same active

ingredient as Novo's popular Wegovy obesity drug, semaglutide.

Both Novo and U.S. rival Eli Lilly ( LLY ) have struggled to

keep up with rampant demand for their weight loss and related

diabetes medicines as a result of the drugs' popularity.

The Danish authority encouraged doctors to be mindful that

some patients may accumulate more Ozempic than would be expected

for normal use, possibly to resell excess supplies.

"In the cases we have reviewed, Ozempic has been prescribed

for the relevant indication in accordance with the

recommendations of the Danish Health Authority," the Patient

Safety Authority said.

"However, the prescribing physicians have not always been

sufficiently aware that the drug could be of interest to others

than the patient," it added.

Denmark encourages doctors to specify the amount of Ozempic

that patients could pick up at the pharmacy at any one time on

each prescription, and how often they could do so within a given

time frame, the agency said.

In Norway, individual refund applications would become

mandatory from July 1, the Norwegian Medical Products Agency

said in a statement.

"This is one of several measures to provide better access to

the medicine for the patients who need it most," it added.

The Danish Medicines Agency in May ordered doctors, as of

November, to prescribe cheaper drugs to patients suffering from

type 2 diabetes before prescribing Ozempic and similar GLP-1

counterparts, in an attempt to cope with soaring demand.