04:09 PM EST, 11/25/2024 (MT Newswires) -- An industry trade group representing drug-compounding companies is asking US regulators to continue categorizing Novo Nordisk's ( NVO ) Wegovy, Ozempic, and other GLP-1 agonist medications as "currently in shortage," which would allow them to keep filling prescriptions for the popular weight-loss drugs' using their active ingredients.

Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) originally developed GLP-1 agonists like Wegovy to treat Type 2 diabetes by controlling glucose levels in the bloodstream in addition to working as weight-loss medications. GLP-1 drugs are generating outsized sales for the company, with GLP-1 diabetes sales growing by 32% year-over-year and obesity care sales growing by 32% during the three months ended Sept. 30.

The US Food and Drug Administration has categorized semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, as being in shortage since August 2022, allowing compounding firms to supplement demand.

Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) and Eli Lilly ( LLY ) , which also sells a GLP-1 medication, want the FDA to use its emergency powers to prohibit compounding, contending GLP-1 drugs are "demonstrably difficult to compound." In response, the Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding has been stepping up its efforts to maintain its share of the market, urging patients who take compounded GLP-1 and the prescribing doctors to contact the agency.

"We believe it's the only way to derail this effort by drugmakers to place GLP-1 drugs off limits for compounding," the trade group said on its website.

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