Why Is There So Much Off-Brand Oral Ozempic for Sale Online?

After the brand-name GLP-1 drugs went into shortage in 2022 , a booming industry of “compounding’s pharmacies and telehealth clinics arose to offer copies of the medications.

Unlike the pharma giants that produce the originals, these virtual clinics and specialty pharmacies are offering versions of semaglutide and tirzepatide for weight loss that are taken by mouth.

Compounding pharmacies have to follow certain rules on the purity and quality of the active ingredients they use.

But that doesn’t mean compounders can always create new delivery methods easily.

Unlike most drugs, which are small molecules that are chemically synthesized into pill form, GLP-1 medications are large molecules that aren't easily taken up by the gastrointestinal tract.

Some compounders are making sublingual products instead, including drops placed under the tongue.

Some compounders are deliberately avoiding the oral market because they feel the evidence isn’t there.

WIRED reached out to a number of other telehealth companies offering oral semaglutide and tirzepatide.

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy ( NABP ) recommends only buying from accredited online pharmacies.