The French medicine policeman is preparing to restrict prescriptions for a class of antidiabetic drugs which is in increased demand, particularly due to its use in weight loss, he announced this Thursday 25 april.
For the beginning of treatment, the prescription of drugs known as GLP-1 analogues “will be reserved for type 2 diabetic patients” with a history of vascular event, or “a significant atheromatous lesion”, according to a press release from the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM). For patients without a cardiovascular history, “the use of another class of antidiabetic drugs should be preferred, depending on the patient’s profile”, adds the ANSM.
Supply tensions
GLP-1 agonists are used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes to help control blood sugar levels and may also be used to help with weight loss in people who are overweight or obese. They are all the rage on social networks because they make you lose weight, with the consequence of supply tensions at the international level.
At the end of 2023, the ANSM, which is monitoring the situation very closely, decided to reserve the antidiabetic drugs Trulicity (Eli Lilly), Ozempic and Victoza (Novo Nordisk) for patients already treated, so as to ensure continuity of care.
Its new recommendations “will only apply when the gradual resumption of supplies of low-dose Ozempic and Victoza is confirmed”, underlines the Agency. “According to information from Novo Nordisk, a progressive supply of Ozempic 0.25 mg (semaglutide) could take place in the coming months” for availability meeting needs “possible from September 2024”, according to the ANSM. On the other hand, she adds, “according to Lilly, the strong supply tensions for Trulicity (dulaglutide) will continue beyond the end of the year”.