[ytjohn]

> Also, the supply constraint seems to be the injector pens, not the drug itself. Personally, I think the scarcity is intentional, or we'd be getting this stuff in vials and using regular syringes. Unless I'm misinformed, I don't think there's any bottleneck in the manufacture of semaglutide itself.

Almost certainly the case. I get semaglutide in a monthly vial for $250/month (off insurance). They provide regular syringes & wipes, but also recommend you order some spare in case any of the needles break (they are super thin). I know someone else getting Wegovy on insurance, and it's all pre-drawn injectors.

> The starter doses are hard to find. The larger doses are not.

My friend's experience was the opposite. When she moved to the higher doses, CVS was often unable to get it in, and she's had to ask her provider put in orders for the lower doses a few times because that was what they could get. I don't know specifically what does she's on though (I swear she said 7.5 once, which is close to the 8 you mention).

[SmellTheGlove]

> My friend's experience was the opposite. When she moved to the higher doses, CVS was often unable to get it in, and she's had to ask her provider put in orders for the lower doses a few times because that was what they could get. I don't know specifically what does she's on though (I swear she said 7.5 once, which is close to the 8 you mention).

Ah that's unfortunate. I guess I shouldn't have concluded my experience was true everywhere. My insurance (PPO from a tech co) doesn't cover Wegovy even with approval (my PPO from a prior tech co did), so my doctor suggested that since I'm going out of pocket and I'm not at the max dose, going with the Ozempic 8mg pens but dialing less than the max would let me stretch it out further. If she's on Wegovy and paying out of pocket, you might pass along this info regarding Ozempic. This assumes she's not at the max dose, though. If she is, it's not cheaper.

[QuantumGood]

Could you share how you get semaglutide in a monthly vial for $250/month (off insurance?

[ytjohn]

As others replied, compounding pharmacies. I'm using orderlymeds, but there's a number of different ones. There's no "generic" version of Wegovy, but compounding pharmacies can read the ingredients and make it themselves, at least while the FDA lists it as being in short supply.

You do need to research though (dropping two articles below). Orderly uses Hallandale pharmacy out of Florida., in fact a lot of the online clinics do. As an example, several clinics (such as Henry Meds) was selling "sodium semaglutide" (aka salt semaglutide) ordered through Hallandale that didn't really work for lots of people and there's lots of mix reviews based around that - not everyone was aware of what version they were getting. Also - not everyone is going to properly measure their dosage, which is why the pre-filled injectors the Novo brand provides is important.

FDA Article: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/postmarket-drug-safety-information... NPR Article: https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/06/07/g-...

You can't order from the pharmacy directly, you need to go through a clinic to get a prescription and have it ordered, but this is the price the clinics pay, before they add their services on top of it.

https://partner.hallandalerx.com/pricing/2024-glp-1-pricing-...

[hombre_fatal]

Compounding pharmacy like Hims.com sells it for $200/mo if you pay a year upfront. Else it's $400 month to month.

They ship you some vials and a syringe. The name brand Ozempic just comes in autoinjector form like an epipen.

[senord]

because he's getting it from a compounding pharmacy who are buying the molecule from a random chinese peptide factory