Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk scored a huge legal victory that restricts compounding pharmacies from marketing or selling cheaper, unapproved versions of its blockbuster weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy. On Monday, US District Judge Mark Pittman denied the Outsourcing Facilities Association's bid for a preliminary injunction that would have prevented the FDA from taking action against its members for making copies of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy. What Do Compounding Pharmacies Do?Compounding is a process where pharmacies mix ingredients of a drug to create a specialised version for specific patients. Say someone is allergic to a dye in a branded medication or needs a liquid form, and the main manufacturer only sells capsules. In that case, the patient can turn to a compounded version or the liquid form. Moreover, when drugs are in short supply, they can be compounded in larger quantities to help fill the gap. Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to these compounding firms when they didn't have enough money to afford the costly weight loss treatments. The prices of both Wegovy and Ozempic rose exponentially, given the skyrocketing demand in the last two years. Notably, the Texas judge's verdict came in response to a February lawsuit from a compounding trade group against the FDA's determination that the active ingredient in those drugs, semaglutide, is no longer in shortage in the US. The decision also means the FDA can start targeting federally regulated 503B pharmacies, which manufacture compounded drugs in bulk with or without prescriptions, after May 22. The agency’s actions can include product seizures and warning letters to pharmacies. How Do Semaglutides Work?Semglutide is the synthetic version of GLP-1, a natural hormone produced in the intestines that regulates blood sugar, appetite, and digestion. Now, every time you eat, your body produces various hormones, including GLP-1. These are called post-nutrition hormones and help you absorb the energy you just consumed.GLP-1 travels to your pancreas, prompting it to produce insulin. It also travels to the hypothalamus in your brain, which gives you the feeling of being full or satiated. Ozempic imitates this hormone, thereby silencing the food chatter in the brain. Interestingly, for some people this food chatter is really quiet ( people with low appetite), and for others, it is an outburst (people who generally binge eat.) So with Ozempic, silencing this self-talk in the brain, people tend to lose their appetite and eventually weight.However, it is important to note that losing weight includes not just fat but muscle as well. Losing too much muscle can lead to reduced strength and a shorter life span. Notably, records show that most people who start taking them stop it at 12 weeks; therefore, it is important for some but not for others.