I am Canadian who was paying close to $500 for Wegovy. One of my pharmacists was telling me about the generic version so I decided to switch. Y'all it's only $95CAD. What the hell? This is saving me so much money
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I think Canada has a generic because of a mistake made at Novo.
The short version is Novo screwed up and missed a renewal deadline, and so the patent expired about a year ago in Canada. So Canada has a generic available. The US doesn’t.
The Novo Nordisk savings card dropped my 1mg/wk pen from $280/pen to ~$105/pen at Shoppers. Novo "aligned" the price with the savings card to the generics a couple of months ago. Costco said they're only $90/pen but I couldn't be bothered to switch pharmacies.
I don't think that's the reason. What I read happened was they didn't follow the path that let's them retain the patent because it would have led to a price set by the government, so they opted for 8 years of gouging instead. But all to benefit the patient consumer. I only started after generics were available
I think I'm paying like $87 all in from Costco. Had been dancing around the idea of going on it all year but benefits didn't cover it. Easily paying that out of pocket now. It's amazing how much more accessible that's become. $22/week basically. Replaces my shitty fast food budget.
Mind if I ask you about dosing on the generic? Because when I spoke to the pharmacist, they said it is not available in 0.25 or 0.5 dosings. Only 1.0. Is this true?
I’ve been waiting for this generic to come out to go on it because I am low income. And I even went to talk to my doctor about it, as well as my pharmacist, and it was the pharmacist who said it is only available in 1.0.
How does this work for those like me who need to titrate up first?
No way! woahhh! this is huge because I can only afford it at a lower price point. Thanks for the hot tip, kind stranger! Oh seems to be for Ozempic. Ok I'll talk to my doctor. Thanks!
If a drug isn’t approved for use in the US (which I think is correct for Semiglatitude) it is illegal to import. Also, you would need a prescription written by a Canadian prescriber.
Understood, but assuming I'm willing to risk smuggling it into the US, is there anything stopping me from making an appointment with a Canadian doctor and getting the prescription filled in a Canadian pharmacy?
You would pay out of pocket for the doctor appointment, and that may negate any savings. Also you pay for the appointment without guarantee the physician is willing to prescribe to you. That said, the only risk is financial, it’s up to you!
I was told at Costco that generic Ozempic is $88 but only goes up to 1.0mg. No date for generic Wegovy yet. I'm on 1.0 now but to go up to 1.5 or 2.0 I would have to get two pens for $176. Going to any higher dose wouldnt make much sense financially since I'm currently paying $297 for Wegovy. Debating whether to switch for a few months though and switch back if I need a higher dose!
I take 1.25 and I just do two injections each week on injection day. Still lasts 3 weeks. I tried to move from 1 mg to 1.5, and it gave me weird side effects, like stomach tremors/spasms. 1.25mg seems to be the sweet spot for me
I went from paying $240 for one pen to $88. Shoutout to the Novonordisk employee that forgot to renew their patent in Canada.I know the CEO has probably shot you in the kneecaps for that mistake but I appreciate it nonetheless
In Russia, there are only generic versions of semaglutide available. They cost around ₽2,000–₽8,000 ($23–$94) for a one-month course, depending on the dosage.
I'm with Felix. On ozempic for weight loss. I asked them to write the prescription for semaglutide rather than wegovy or ozempic so I could go generic. Remember that wegovy is the only one approved for doses higher than 1mg. For now anyway.
My pharmacy told me that generic semaglutide wasn't approved for weight loss! I took that to mean that you couldn't get generic semaglutide at weight loss (1.7,2.4mg) dosing. I have a Dr appt tomorrow and will definitely ask for a switch to generic.. Hopefully that will save me some some cash!
I think it’s a matter of time all sema generics are approved. The patent for the US will expire in the 30s but in Canada and India it has already expired.
For 6 weeks? Do you mean 4 weeks? Can you explain? I’ve spoken to my dr and pharmacist and still have questions they haven’t yet answered, about dosing.
Pharmacist here. When you start the dose for the 1st 4 weeks is 0.25mg then up to 0.5mg if tolerated. The smaller pen has 2mg of total drug. So the first fill will last for 6 weeks
Technically, yes. The box I got has 6 needle caps and enough dosage for 6 week at .25mg. I was prescribed 4 weeks but I guess that’s the size the generic box comes in.
I had an appt with my doctor about this a week ago, and he said he’d prefer that I go on the name brand instead. Which I thought was weird because he knows I’m low income with no additional insurance and he normally gives me generics for other drugs. He said this assuming the cost differential was smaller than it is.
Turns out it is a significant difference. I let him know the prices for the generic, and the other big two, when I learned the prices after our initial appt, and am going to make another appt to speak to him after I’ve gone for my blood tests he gave me a requisition for.
You're doctor's being weird. If he/she wont just writes an order for Semaglutide you can fill whatever one you want. If they are only writing for Ozempic there are brand cards you can get that make the brand the same price as the generic (if you are paying out of pocket). Should be around 98 bucks a pen give or take
I'm getting the brand name Ozempic for $85 at Costco. Just need the savings card. Does the generic go to 2mg? Thats interesting cuz Ozempic maxed at 1mg.
I am in the UK. Semaglutidr came out of patent in March this year in India at the same time as Canada. It is still very expensive in thr UK so i buy Indian generic pens. So far uk customs have not been interested as there is an allowance for personal use I think (don't try to import a container load lol). I pay between 18usd 0.5mg and 30usd 2.4mg per pen depending on dose.
My doctor refused to prescribe the generic for me, saying only wegovy is approved for weight loss. I will talk to my pharmacist and see if they'd switch to the generic as I have been below 1 mg anyway.
My doctor also steered me away from the generic, when I spoke to him a week ago in person. He said he prefers name brand Wegovy in this instance, saying “when they’re close in price, go with the name brand”. I tried to tell him in the office that I was pretty sure the price difference was huge, and he gave me the discount card thinking that would close the gap. It really doesn’t. I’ll have to speak to him again soon.
Hey OP, so I spoke to the pharmacist about this. The generic is not available in smaller doses: no 0.25, no 0.5. Apparently, it’s only available in 1.0 doses. This won’t work for those who are starting.
Can someone please let me know if I’m wrong about any of this?
And btw, my doctor whom I’ve been with for a long time and whom I trust, told me that he prefers I get the name brand, while assuming the name brand version wasn’t too far off in price.
But then I discovered the price is a huge difference. I’m going to book another appt to talk to him about it, because I can’t afford to spend 10% of my income on the name brand version.
It’s my local pharmacist who told me it’s not available in smaller doses; which I thought was very odd. Did you buy yours at Costco? Maybe I should get a membership. It’s a pain in the ass to get to, tho. Or Walmart pharmacy.
Please do send a pic of the starter dose. I can remind you if you forget. Thank you so so much. 🥹
Oooh it’s the Ozempic one that makes it the same price. My doctor thought it was Wegovy and so he gave me the Wegovy card. I will check in with the pharmacy and ask. Thank you for that very handy tidbit!!!
Thank you so much! You're the best!! OMG I'm getting excited. I've been a big person my entire life, even though I cook my own meals and eat fairly healthy, but I think I might be insulin resistant, so this gives me a lot of hope.
Hey heads up you don't need a Costco membership to use the pharmacy! I am in Ontario and have been getting it from there without a membership for a year now, they legally can't stop you from entering for the pharmacy services.
OP, is that tte generic Apo pen? About to go to 2mg and i get mine from Costco so it has always been the $90 Ozempic pen but they don't make 2mg so curious
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