Healthcare marketplace Sesame announced Wednesday a new clinical weight loss program that will help eligible consumers access compounded versions of New NordiskThe blockbuster obesity drug Wegovy for $249 a month.
Sesame allows patients to book and pay for appointments with doctors and specialists directly through its website, thereby eliminating middlemen such as insurers.
The company said it is adding compounded semaglutide (the active ingredient in Wegovy and Novo Nordisk's Ozempic diabetes injection) to its platform to help users safely access obesity and diabetes treatments at a time when many brand-name drugs are in short supply. Sesame already offers brand-name weight-loss and diabetes drugs through its platform, including through a partnership with Costco.
But the company’s new program could serve as a more affordable alternative for weight loss, since compounded drugs are typically cheaper than their brand-name counterparts. Wegovy and Ozempic cost about $1,000 a month before insurance, and most weight-loss programs from competing digital health companies don’t include the cost of those drugs.
“In light of this drug supply shortage, and on behalf of American consumers, we are making available to our users a compounded version of semaglutide in… [a] “The price is very affordable,” Michael Botta, president and co-founder of Sesame, told CNBC in an interview. “In fact, we think it's probably the most affordable price point that the consumer can find compared to other products.”
Wegovy and Ozempic are part of a popular class of weight-loss and diabetes drugs called GLP-1s, which mimic certain gut hormones to reduce a patient’s appetite and regulate blood sugar. These treatments have gained popularity in recent years, and some analysts predict the industry could generate more than $100 billion in annual revenue by 2030.
Supply shortages are one of the biggest hurdles for Novo Nordisk and its main rival, Eli Lilly, as increased demand can make it difficult for many patients to find treatments. When brand-name drugs containing GLP-1 are in short supply, some manufacturers can prepare compounded versions if they meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements.
The lowest dose of Wegovy is in short supply, but all other doses of the drug and Ozempic are available, according to the FDA's drug shortage database.
Compounded medications are customized alternatives to brand-name drugs, designed to meet a patient's specific needs, such as not being able to swallow a pill or being allergic to the dye in a particular product. These compounded medications can be prescribed, manufactured, and dispensed under two sections of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
That law created two classes of compounding pharmacies. The FDA regulates so-called 503B pharmacies, which can compound larger batches of drugs without requiring individual prescriptions, while 503A pharmacies can create customized drugs for individual patients and are largely regulated by states, not the FDA.
But both Wegovy and Ozempic are protected by patents in the United States and abroad, and Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly do not supply the active ingredients in their drugs to outside groups. The companies say this raises questions about what some manufacturers are selling and marketing to consumers.
Both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have stepped in to address illicit versions of their treatments, suing weight-loss clinics, medical spas and compounding pharmacies across the United States over the past year. Last month, the FDA also said it had received reports of patients overdosing on compounded semaglutide due to dosing errors, such as when patients self-administered incorrect amounts of a treatment.
Botta said Sesame initially “stayed very far away” from compounded drugs because the company was unsure of their purity and quality. But he said the more Sesame learned about The compounded versions of GLP-1, “the more we see that they are effective, the safer they seem. People tend to have a good experience taking them.”
Sesame then sent its teams to inspect several 503B compounding pharmacies.
“What we decided to do was work with a compounding pharmacy that certainly meets our standards when it comes to inspecting their processes, their quality and their production,” Botta said.
Sesame's partner compounding pharmacy will make single-use prefilled syringes instead of a single vial of medication that patients must measure themselves. Botta said that could help patients “avoid the risk of overfilling a syringe, injecting too much, taking too much, or overdosing on this medication.”
To participate in Sesame's new program, patients will need to fill out an intake form and select a health care provider. They will have a video visit with the provider, have some lab work done, and receive a prescription if the provider decides it's a good fit.
Patients will be able to access ongoing consultations via video chat, as well as a library of content on nutrition, fitness and mindfulness. The content won't be available immediately upon the new program's launch on Wednesday, but Sesame said it will be available in about two weeks.
Anyone who registers provisionally will automatically gain access when it becomes available, the company added.
“There are millions and millions of Americans struggling with obesity itself and all the side effects of obesity,” Botta said. “We think it's worth it to be able to connect patients who would otherwise be struggling with supply shortages.”
