Victoza (Liraglutide) Generic hits the market
Teva Pharmaceuticals has started manufacturing a Victoza generic drug (liraglutide), and it's available inside the United States.
Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 ("GLP1") agonists aren't magic, but they are effective, and with few side effects.
Check out our quick explainer
One of the biggest problems with GLP1 agonists however, has been how expensive they've been – many people who would like to have use them have not been able to afford to.
GLP1.Guide, along with many others have written about shortages, and the affordability problem. It looks like all that might be about to change, for at least one of the popular formulations of GLP1: Liraglutide (AKA Victoza).
Teva pharmaceuticals has launched a Victoza generic 🎉
This means that we're nearing an age where more and more GLP1 options are available to more people, and that's worth celebrating.
Who are Teva Pharmaceuticals?
Teva Pharmaceuticals is an Israeli pharmaceutical company that produces the most generic drugs in the world.
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Unlike Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly they're not so specialized to creating diabetes or obesity related medicine but they have a long track record of research, development, and manufacturing generics that are used and widely known.
You can read right from them:
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE and TASE: TEVA) is a global pharmaceutical leader with a category-defying portfolio, harnessing our generics expertise and stepping up innovation to continue the momentum behind the discovery, delivery, and expanded development of modern medicine. For over 120 years, Teva's commitment to bettering health has never wavered. Today, the company’s global network of capabilities enables its ~37,000 employees across 58 markets to push the boundaries of scientific innovation and deliver quality medicines to help improve health outcomes of millions of patients every day. To learn more about how Teva is all in for better health, visit www.tevapharm.com.
As a publicly listed company Teva Pharmaceuticals is required to make disclosures and have a certain amount of reporting and are responsible at the very least to shareholders of the company and regulators so that's a good sign.
That said, Teva is still a for-profit company so they're looking to make a profit similar to any other company in the GLP1 space, and they bring a level of scale which ensures that more people will be able to get access to GLP1 agonists.
What does this mean for getting access to Liraglutide (Victoza)?
You still need a prescription to get access to Liraglutide – the only GLP1 that is approved for weight loss by the FDA is still Wegovy, but of course there is off-label prescribing of many GLP1s (like Ozempic).
One great thing about this is that now people don't have to try to get compounded versions, they can rely on the generic, and can switch at their trusted local pharmacist.
Generics are on average 39% cheaper than name brand drugs, so we could see a massive reduction in price.
Are there any other ways to get cheap GLP1s?
Right now the only other promising development in dramatically cheaper GLP1 are the moves made by hims and hers, which we wrote about recently:
GLP1.Guide Staff
However, the GLP1 offered by hims and hers are through trusted pharmacies that are compounded. This is not quite the same as a large scale manufacturing effort that a company like Teva can utilize.
Will there be more generics?
Here at GLP1.Guide we sure hope so – more companies, countries, and organizations offering generic versions of GLP1 agonists means that we can get more people who want to use the treatments, and have enough for people with high need as well.
Along with this new introduction to the US market, we're also excited to see what comes out of India and other parts of the world.
