Ozempic is far and away the best-selling drug in Canada by revenue, with $2.8-billion in retail sales last year alone. It’s not clear, however, how much of that number comes from patients paying out of pocket to use Ozempic off-label for weight loss, but it is likely significant.

In the current environment, no public and few private insurance plans cover Ozempic or Wegovy for weight management, though Ozempic is covered for diabetes. Wegovy is the same drug, semaglutide, just sold at a different dose and approved expressly for weight loss.

Next year, Canada will become one of the first countries in the world to get generic semaglutide. What will its widespread availability mean for the health of Canadians and Canada’s health-care system?

Generic version of Ozempic, Wegovy to launch in C

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