This is how many Australians are actually taking Ozempic.

It's the diabetes turned 'weight loss' drug that's gone viral in just a few short years.

Ozempic has been steeped in controversy, and yet has simultaneously been hailed as a "miracle cure" for obesity by some. It is as in demand as ever, but how much do we actually know about the Australians taking it? 

Ozempic is only approved here for diabetes management. Meanwhile, Wegovy, a new brand of semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic) specifically approved for chronic weight management, has been available in Australia since early August. 

The drugs, known as GLP-1s, produce a naturally occurring hormone, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), that simulates satiety and acts as an appetite suppressant. 

According to the nation's medicines regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Ozempic is only approved for lowering blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. And it wants this to stay this way, to keep the drug for people who need it.

However, the TGA can't actually prevent doctors from using their clinical judgement to prescribe it for other health conditions. Then there's also the route of finding it online, but the TGA warns against going down this path.

"Please be aware that other semaglutide products that may be offered online have not been checked for safety, quality or effectiveness by the TGA. Buying prescription medicines online without a valid prescription is not encouraged and is illegal," it says.

According to the Australian Financial Review, people in Sydney's eastern suburbs pay between $300 and $1000 or more per month for the weekly injections and say they're easy to get.

A dozen people told the outlet they bought the drug from "friendly" GPs of telehealth sites with minimum consultation and said they didn't consider themselves overweight but just wanted to look good.

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So, how many Australians are actually taking Ozempic?

It's murky territory. The two companies that dominate the market, Novo Nordisk (behind Ozempic and Wegovy) and Eli Lilly (who produce the injectable Mounjaro), don't release their sales data for Australia.

Prescriptions for GLP-1 type drugs can only be claimed as part of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme if they are prescribed to treat diabetes, and pharmacies are not required to release those numbers.

Doctors are allowed to prescribe the drugs for other health purposes, which are called "off-label" uses. They don't have to disclose these prescriptions either.

All of this means there's a distinct lack of clear information on how many people are taking weight-loss drugs in Australia.

The Herald Sun reports that anecdotally, there's strong evidence of widespread use of injectable appetite suppressants, with one company reporting revenue of more than $100 million from its weight loss services over the past 18 months.

Numbers in the US paint a more solid picture of the situation. According to a research letter published in JAMA Health Forum, prescriptions in the US for semaglutide increased by 442 per cent from 2021 to 2023. More than 70 per cent of these were for Ozempic. 

The number of Ozempic scripts increased by 392 per cent between January 2021 and December 2023. Then, since its approval for weight-loss treatment in the US in mid-2021, Wegovy fills increased by 1361 per cent from July 2021 to December 2023.

Researchers attributed the major spike to increased awareness of semaglutide's weight loss benefits and said it contributed to shortages for Ozempic and Wegovy since March 2022.

Sallie Pearson, who heads the Medicines Intelligence Research Program at the University of NSW, told the AFR, the gaps in knowledge about Ozempic in Australia are widening.

"There is no single source of truth when it comes to understanding what medicines are prescribed or dispensed," she said.

"If you really, really want to understand what's going on for patients, you need to be as greedy as possible with data so you get a full picture of what's going on."

Feature image: Getty.