The medications broadly grouped as GLP-1 agonists, of which Ozempic is the best known, have transformed the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity in Australia. They have also created a set of regulatory questions the TGA is still working through.

Compounded versions

Compounding pharmacies in some Australian states have, in the past eighteen months, begun to supply compounded semaglutide, a version of the drug prepared to order rather than manufactured by the patent-holder. The practice sits in a regulatory grey area. The TGA has said it will act. The question is when, and how.

What GPs are saying

Interviewed for this piece, several Australian GPs described a pattern: patients requesting Ozempic for weight-loss indications, being refused because supply is tight and PBS listing is narrow, and then obtaining a compounded version through channels the GP has no visibility of.

The conversation the profession is having is about how to advise patients in the interim. Most GPs, on the record, recommend the licensed product only. Off the record, several acknowledge the current supply constraint creates behaviour they cannot control.