Novo Nordisk aware of deaths linked to compounded weight-loss drug copies

Novo Nordisk is aware of 100 hospitalizations and 10 deaths resulting from people taking compounded copies of its popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs, the drugmaker's finance chief said on Wednesday. 

Chief Financial Officer Karsten Munk Knudsen told a media briefing after the company released third-quarter results that the company had been looking at "a number of compounded products in the market and identified multiple safety concerns" as well as the reports of hospitalizations and deaths. 

Last month, Novo Nordisk asked the US FDA to ban compounding pharmacies from making copycat versions of Wegovy and Ozempic, which it said were too complex for those manufacturers to produce safely. 

US regulations allow compounders to copy brand-name medicines that are in short supply by combining, mixing or altering drug ingredients to meet demand. Wegovy and Ozempic, both known chemically as semaglutide, were until recently in shortage in the US 

Although all dose strengths of Ozempic and Wegovy are now listed as "available" on the FDA website, the drugs remain on the agency's shortages list. 

This was a result of significant investments to expand its manufacturing capacity and "ongoing communication" with the FDA, the company said at the time. 

"This is an ongoing dialogue with the FDA. I don't want to speculate today whether we're completely off the shortages list, but this is a first step and we're hopeful that we'll be getting off in future," Knudsen told the media briefing on Wednesday.

He said that is important because if a product is not on the shortages list, there are limitations for compounding pharmacies making copycat versions. 

Knudsen reiterated that Novo Nordisk is "highly concerned about product safety" and that is why it is focused on compounded products in the market and related safety concerns.