The semaglutide shortage that began in 2022 is finally easing. In the United States, the FDA has signaled that the national supply of GLP-1 medications is stabilizing, and in Australia, the manufacturer Novo Nordisk confirmed that Ozempic was removed from the official medicines shortage list as of July 18, 2025. Europe, however, continues to deal with supply constraints, and individual pharmacies in any country may still run low on specific dose strengths depending on local demand.
What Caused the Shortage
The core problem was straightforward: demand exploded far beyond what the manufacturer could produce. Semaglutide was originally approved for type 2 diabetes (as Ozempic), but its dramatic weight loss effects created a massive secondary market once Wegovy launched for obesity treatment. Social media attention and off-label prescribing for cosmetic weight loss in people without obesity or weight-related health conditions accelerated demand even further. The European Medicines Agency specifically called out this trend as worsening existing shortages across the EU.
On the supply side, semaglutide is a complex peptide that requires specialized manufacturing. Novo Nordisk simply didn’t have enough production capacity to keep pace. Building pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities takes years, not months, so even once the company recognized the gap, catching up was a slow process.
Where Things Stand Now
The picture varies by country. In Australia, the shortage is officially resolved, with supply levels restored enough to support both new patient starts and ongoing prescriptions. In the U.S., the FDA describes the national GLP-1 supply as beginning to stabilize, though availability at your local pharmacy can still vary. Across the EU, shortages persist in some member states, with regulators redistributing stock between countries to prevent patients from going without their medication entirely.
If you’re currently on semaglutide and having trouble filling your prescription, the situation is meaningfully better than it was in 2023 or early 2024, but “better” doesn’t always mean your specific dose is on the shelf today. Lower starter doses have generally been easier to find than higher maintenance doses, though this gap is narrowing.
Manufacturing Expansion
Novo Nordisk is investing heavily to prevent future shortages. In June 2024, the company announced a $4.1 billion expansion of its U.S. manufacturing capacity, building a second fill-and-finish facility in Clayton, North Carolina. The project adds 1.4 million square feet of production space, effectively doubling the combined footprint of its three existing North Carolina facilities. This kind of investment signals that the company expects demand to remain high for years and is building infrastructure to match it.
Compounded Semaglutide and Its Risks
During the shortage, many patients turned to compounded versions of semaglutide, custom-made by specialty pharmacies rather than manufactured by Novo Nordisk. While the drug remained on the FDA’s official shortage list, compounding pharmacies had legal room to produce these copies. As supply stabilizes, that legal window is tightening. The FDA has stated it won’t take action against compounders who fill four or fewer prescriptions of a commercially available drug per month, but larger-scale compounding operations face increasing scrutiny.
The safety record of compounded semaglutide has been concerning. The FDA has received reports of adverse events requiring hospitalization, largely tied to dosing errors. Patients using multi-dose vials have accidentally injected five to 20 times more than their prescribed dose. In other cases, healthcare providers made calculation errors when converting between milligrams and units, resulting in five to 10 times the intended dose. Reported complications included severe nausea and vomiting, dehydration, acute pancreatitis, and gallstones.
There are additional quality concerns. Some compounders use salt forms of semaglutide (such as semaglutide sodium or semaglutide acetate) rather than the base form used in approved products. These are technically different active ingredients. Others mix in added vitamins or supplements like B-12 or L-carnitine, combinations that have never been studied for safety or effectiveness. Because semaglutide is still under patent protection, there’s no official quality standard for bulk manufacturing, meaning compounders are essentially setting their own specifications.
What About Tirzepatide?
Tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound, went through its own shortage starting in December 2022. That shortage is now resolved. The FDA removed tirzepatide from its drug shortage list in October 2024 after confirming that manufacturer Eli Lilly’s supply was meeting or exceeding demand, with significant reserves in inventory and additional production scheduled for coming months.
If you’ve been unable to get semaglutide, tirzepatide works through a similar mechanism and is approved for both type 2 diabetes and weight management. It’s worth discussing with your prescriber as a potential alternative, particularly since its supply situation is currently more stable.
What to Expect Going Forward
The trend lines point toward continued improvement. Manufacturing capacity is expanding, regulators in multiple countries are actively coordinating supply chains, and the initial demand shock is leveling off as prescribing patterns normalize. EU regulators have recommended that healthcare professionals prescribe these medications only for their approved uses and that member states develop guidelines to prioritize patients with the greatest medical need.
If you’re trying to fill a semaglutide prescription right now, your best bet is to check with multiple pharmacies, as stock levels can vary significantly even within the same city. Some pharmacies allow you to request notifications when a specific dose comes in. Switching between dose strengths or pen configurations without guidance from your prescriber isn’t advisable, since the dose-escalation schedule exists to minimize side effects.