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Ozempic and Wegovy Shortage: What to Do If Your Medication Is Unavailable

GLP-1 Companion · 8 min read

Between 2022 and 2025, millions of patients on Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound experienced disruptions to their medication supply ranging from temporary pharmacy stockouts to months-long nationwide shortages. The shortages affected people managing type 2 diabetes and those using GLP-1 medications for weight loss, and in many cases led to abrupt treatment interruptions with health consequences. Understanding what caused the shortages, where things stand in 2026, and how to protect your medication supply is important for any patient on a GLP-1.

A Brief History of the GLP-1 Shortage (2022–2025)

The GLP-1 shortage was fundamentally a demand-shock problem. When semaglutide (Ozempic) gained widespread attention in 2022 for its weight-loss effects — driven partly by celebrity use and social media — prescriptions surged far beyond what Novo Nordisk's manufacturing infrastructure could supply. The FDA placed semaglutide on its official Drug Shortage List in 2022. Tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) followed a similar trajectory when it launched.

• 2022: Ozempic added to FDA Drug Shortage List; early Wegovy supply also constrained following its 2021 approval
• 2023: Shortage deepens; Novo Nordisk accelerates manufacturing expansion; some doses (0.25 mg and 0.5 mg) partially resolved while higher doses remained scarce
• 2023–2024: Compounding pharmacies legally produce semaglutide and tirzepatide during shortage period under 503A and 503B frameworks; millions of patients access compounded versions
• 2024: Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly announce major manufacturing capacity investments; supply begins recovering; FDA begins shortgae resolution process
• Early 2025: FDA declares semaglutide shortage resolved; enforcement notices issued to compounding pharmacies; Ozempic removed from shortage list
• Mid-2025: Tirzepatide shortage similarly resolved; FDA enforcement against compounded tirzepatide accelerated
• 2026: Both semaglutide and tirzepatide are off the FDA shortage list; brand-name supply is broadly available; compounding of these specific drugs is no longer legally justified under the shortage exemption

Current FDA Shortage Status as of April 2026

As of April 2026, semaglutide (in all commercial formulations: Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) are not listed on the FDA Drug Shortage List. This means brand-name supply is considered adequate, and the legal basis for compounding these medications under the shortage exemption no longer exists. The FDA has been actively pursuing enforcement actions against pharmacies that continue to compound these drugs without a valid shortage justification.

What Caused the Shortages

The GLP-1 shortage was multi-factorial, but the root cause was that demand dramatically outpaced manufacturing capacity that had been built for a much smaller patient population.

• Explosive demand growth: the combination of strong clinical trial data, expanded FDA approvals, and unprecedented media and social attention drove prescription volumes to levels no manufacturer had modeled
• Manufacturing complexity: GLP-1 peptide drugs require complex biological manufacturing processes; expanding capacity is not as simple as running more shifts at an existing facility
• Fill-finish bottlenecks: even when active pharmaceutical ingredient supply increased, specialized autoinjector pen assembly was a separate bottleneck
• Allocation strategies: manufacturers allocated supply based on historical dispensing patterns, disadvantaging newer prescribers and patients
• No generic competition: unlike small-molecule drugs, biosimilar GLP-1 competitors could not rapidly enter the market to supplement supply

What to Do If Your Pharmacy Doesn't Have Your Dose

Even with the shortage resolved at a national level, localized stockouts at specific pharmacies occur periodically due to regional demand, distribution timing, and ordering patterns. Here is what to do if your pharmacy cannot fill your current dose.

1. Call ahead before driving to the pharmacy — most pharmacies will check availability over the phone. Ask specifically about your exact medication name, dose strength, and package size.
2. Ask the pharmacy to check their ordering system for estimated restock date; many pharmacies can tell you when the next shipment is expected.
3. Call other pharmacies in your area. Independent pharmacies, specialty pharmacies, and mail-order pharmacies may have stock when retail chains do not.
4. Ask your prescriber about an alternative dose. In some cases, your prescriber may authorize a different available dose temporarily — for example, using two 0.5 mg pens to approximate a 1 mg dose, with specific instructions.
5. Request your prescription be transferred to a mail-order pharmacy. Mail-order pharmacies (CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, OptumRx) draw from national distribution centers and may have stock when local retail is out.
6. Ask your prescriber to contact the manufacturer's medical information line; in some cases, manufacturers can help locate supply for patients with urgent clinical need.

Therapeutic Alternatives to Discuss with Your Prescriber

If your medication will be unavailable for an extended period and your prescriber determines it is unsafe to wait, there are clinical alternatives to consider. These decisions should always be made with your prescriber, not independently.

• Switch to a different GLP-1 medication: if Ozempic is unavailable, your prescriber may consider switching to Mounjaro (tirzepatide) or Rybelsus (oral semaglutide) if clinically appropriate — subject to your insurance formulary
• Temporary dose hold: for most patients, a 2–4 week gap in GLP-1 therapy will not cause serious harm, though appetite may return and some weight regain typically occurs; do not simply stop and restart without prescriber guidance
• Oral semaglutide (Rybelsus): if your prescriber determines you need continued GLP-1 therapy and the injectable is unavailable, the oral formulation may serve as a bridge
• Orforglipron: oral GLP-1 RA that does not require the fasting administration conditions of Rybelsus; potentially useful as a bridge or alternative if supply is available
• Continuation of other medications: if you take metformin, a DPP-4 inhibitor, or other diabetes medications alongside your GLP-1, ensure you discuss whether any dose adjustments are needed during a GLP-1 gap

A Note on Compounded GLP-1 Products in 2026

With the FDA shortage resolved, the legal and safety considerations around compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide have changed significantly. During the shortage period, compounding was permitted under specific legal exemptions designed for drug shortage situations. Now that the shortage has been resolved, those exemptions no longer apply, and the FDA has made clear that most compounding of these medications is no longer legally justified.

Patients who were using compounded versions during the shortage should transition to FDA-approved brand-name medications. Compounded products that appeared during the shortage varied widely in quality, potency, and sterility — some were produced to high standards by accredited 503B facilities, while others were not. For new patients, starting on a compounded GLP-1 in 2026 carries both regulatory and safety risks that do not exist with brand-name medications.

Proactive Strategies to Protect Your Supply

The best approach to medication supply management is proactive rather than reactive. These strategies help ensure continuity of treatment.

• Use a mail-order pharmacy for 90-day supplies rather than refilling monthly at a retail pharmacy; this reduces the frequency of supply checks and often offers cost savings
• Request refills 10–14 days before your last dose rather than waiting until you are out; this gives time to troubleshoot any stockouts
• Consider switching to a specialty pharmacy that focuses on GLP-1 medications and maintains more reliable inventory
• Sign up for pharmacy text or app alerts that notify you when your medication is ready or back in stock
• Establish a relationship with your prescriber's office so that if a shortage develops, you can quickly get a prescription for an alternative formulation or dose
• Keep your prescriber informed if you experience a supply gap; abrupt discontinuation data should be part of your medical record

The shortage era demonstrated how fragile the supply chain for new high-demand medications can be. While supply is stable in 2026, the best protection against future disruptions is having an established prescriber relationship, a flexible pharmacy strategy, and an informed understanding of your therapeutic alternatives.

Sources

• Wilding et al. (2021). Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity. NEJM.
• Jastreboff et al. (2022). Tirzepatide Once Weekly for the Treatment of Obesity. NEJM.