SA has run out of the human insulin pens for people with diabetes as the global pharmaceutical industry shifts production priorities to blockbuster weight-loss drugs that use a similar device for delivery, reported MedicalBrief (26 June 2024).
Novo Nordisk, manufacturers of Ozempic and Wegovy, did not renew its decade long contract after it expired last month. No other company has bid on the contract to supply 14m pens for the next three years, at about $2 per pen.
Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy – widely prescribed in the US for weight loss – are sold in single-use pens produced by many of the same contracted manufacturers who make the multi-dose insulin pens.
Ely Lilly reported that it is also struggling to keep up with the demand for its weight-loss drug.