Canadians can get a more affordable version of the ozemic in early 2026. Here’s how

Cheap versions of drugs to treat obesity such as ozapic and vegovi may soon be in the market in Canada since January.

Ozmpic is a social media darling – famous celebrities posted their praise and posted people about big weight loss. But a patient can pay $ 400 per month for such drugs, Dr. Sanjeev Socailingam, Obesity Canadian Scientific Director and Professor of Psychiatry at Toronto University.

He says that his patients are disappointed and disappointed with the “prohibition” cost.

But now, many companies say that they intend to marketing cheap versions of such drugs. What medical experts say here:

What are these medicines?

The injected prescription is sold in the form of drugs, ozmpic and vegovi, and the pill ribelus all contains the component semglutide. This class of the drug, known as glucagon -like peptide -1 (GLP -1S), regulates blood sugar levels and appetite.

Health Canada first approved the ozmpic for the treatment of diabetes and vegovi for weight loss. About 33 percent Canadian (10.6 million people) Were fat In 2023, according to a recent study.

How low can the price come?

Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of ozmpic and vegovi, will effectively lose its price safety on drugs in January, opening the door to generic versions.

Meena Tadras, an associate professor who evaluates drug prices at the University of Toronto, says three or four companies have put them in development or are initiated paperwork.

Tadras says that the number of companies affects pricing.

“The classic framework is that if you have only one, the list comes down to 75 percent from the value,” Tadras said. “If we have two, it goes down by 50 percent and if we have three then it is 25 percent hit.”

Three manufacturers can reduce the price from $ 400 to $ 100 for the same strength of tadrous estimates, tadrous estimates.

Has normal drugs have been approved?

not yet. Health Canada needs to consider the application of each company, which is for creating and selling generic versions of injected drugs, known as biosimiler.

Since they will not require new clinical trials, they may be available within weeks of health canada’s acceptance – “grandfather” in “grandfather” depending on the original trials.

“It is actually about its availability in the body and the similarity of the drug in the context of its metabolism.”

Will insurance cover them?

Semaglutide is Is already listed For people over-65 years old on Ontario drug formulary, a list of publicly covered drugs, long-term care houses living in homes, and Ontario’s work or disability payments.

This means that as soon as a generic form is available, public drug insurance plans can switch to it, and the private insurance plans offered by employers also do the same, says Tadras.

Professor of Medicine and a researcher at McGill University. Kaberi Dasgupta says it will be good news for those who have overweight and resulting complications, but who cannot currently afford branded drugs.

Dasgupta said the generic version “will open the door for many more people.”

What is involved in taking these medicines?

Dasgupta says that it is important to people for those prescribed by a physician and then monitored.

Dasgupta said, “We should emphasize publicly accessible good diet and physical activity because we live in a society where people are gaining more and more weight.”

For example, in England, semaglutide is recommended with at least 13 hours of counseling on diet and physical activity.

What about the lack of medicine?

Because some medicines also treat type 2 diabetes, doctors and health care policy experts see supply chains to prevent deficiency.

Dr. Harpreet Bajaj, an endocrinologist with LMC Healthcare in Brampton, Onts, many times when diabetic patients had to move away from ozmpic or other GLP -1 drugs because no one was available.

Bajaj said, “Being a biosimiller, which is a completely new drug made by the company and perhaps … is made in a more cost -effective manner, it will also relieve some pressures on any deficiency of the future, which we can expect, which we can expect,” Bajaj said.

Dasgupta, who also treats diabetes, said in his experience in Quebec, sometimes is more accessible to those through the publicly funded scheme of the drug province who meet medical criteria than some private insurers who focus more strongly on cost.