Wegovy now in Canada: Who should (and shouldn’t) use the weight-loss drug
After years of persistent shortages, Canadians can now access Wegovy, an on-label weight loss medication, made by the same manufacturers of Ozempic.
Novo Nordisk’s drug officially hit the shelves on Monday, marking its availability despite being greenlit in Canada since 2021. Wegovy’s arrival holds promise for those battling obesity and diabetes.
Yet, as excitement brews, questions about its differences from medications like Ozempic, its ideal candidates and potential side effects may arise.
“This is a medical treatment approved for and studied in people living with a medical condition, obesity,” Dr. Sanjeev Sockalingam of Obesity Canada told Global News.
In Canada, the prevalence of obesity increased three-fold over the last three decades and now affects one in four adults, according to Obesity Canada.
Obesity not only diminishes a person’s quality of life and life expectancy but also escalates the risk of serious chronic illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, Sockalingam said.
“We want to think about how we can intervene early and prevent this,” Sockalingam said, adding that he believes medications like Wegovy will have a tremendous health impact for Canadians, as it is “another tool in our toolbox for treating obesity. “
Wegovy is the brand name for a medicine called semaglutide, the same as Novo Nordisks’s blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic.
The drugs belong to a family of medicines known as GLP-1 analogues originally designed to control blood sugar but that also led to weight loss by making people feel full.
The weekly injections start at 0.25 milligrams of active ingredient semaglutide and gradually increase to the maintenance dose of 2.4 mg, according to the
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