Compounding pharmacies will have to stop producing copycats of tirzepatide, the active ingredient in the blockbuster weight loss drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound, in a matter of days. That’s because a federal judge has ruled that compounding pharmacies can’t keep making copies of the drug now that it’s no longer in shortage.

Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide diabetes and weight loss drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy, are no longer officially in shortage in the US, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). That means that compounding pharmacies and outsourcing facilities that had been legitimately preparing their own versions of the drugs will no longer be permitted to do so.

Consumers who use telehealth or medical spas to get less expensive, compounded weight loss drugs will need to get their medications elsewhere.

Very few people are currently being prescribed drugs for weight loss on the NHS in Scotland, research by BBC Scotland News has established. Medications like Mounjaro and Wegovy have been hailed as "game changers" for tackling obesity.

Most compounded versions of popular drugs used for weight loss including Wegovy and Zepbound may soon no longer be available after a U.S. judge declined an initial injunction to allow compounding pharmacies to continue making versions.

Compounded versions of popular drugs used for weight loss including Wegovy and Zepbound will soon no longer be available after a decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The agency has ordered compounding pharmacies to stop making compound versions of GLP-1 drugs now that the drugs are no longer in short supply.