Some 10,000 people in Malaga already use one of the four new weight-loss drugs available in Spain

Some 10,000 people in Malaga are taking one of the four weight-loss drugs available at pharmacies throughout the province.

While it is difficult to know the exact number of consumers as there is no official data, SUR checked this information with a distributor Bidafarma, which has approximately 65% of the weight-loss medicine market in the province. In the past two months (July and August), the sale of these drugs amounted to some 6,000 boxes per month, a figure that is increasing every month.

What is striking about this high number is not only how widespread it has become among the general public, but that this is happening despite its high price, and that in most cases it is not funded by the government. Saxenda, Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro have a monthly price ranging from 128 euros to 300 euros, depending on the dosage.

Only Saxenda and Ozempic are subsidised by the state public health system, but only for people with diabetes, who must lose weight. Francisco Tinahones, scientific director of Ibima and an expert on the subject has been vocal about the topic and said there is a "lack of equity".

Why the health system is not subsidising - at least for the time being - any of these weight-loss drugs is a contradiction, as any medical professional argues that obesity is actually at the root of many of the causes of death or chronic illness, Tinahones pointed out. "The problem is that obesity is not seen as any other disease. There is a blaming of obese people. That doesn't happen with other diseases; we don't blame someone for getting colon cancer because they didn't get enough fibre; we don't even blame a smoker for getting lung cancer. Let alone charge them for the treatment," he added.

The European Commission speaks of obesity as a chronic disease, the expert pointed out. "Financing these drugs has a very high cost. A specific budget has to be set, but governments have to take it on," Tinahones added.

The 10,000 Malaga province residents already taking these medicines is a high figure, but all indications are that it could be even higher if there were more in stock.

Ozempic is undoubtedly the best-selling drug, accounting for almost 50% of all boxes shipped in recent months. There are several reasons for this, but mainly Novo Nordisk's drug was the first to arrive and the most effective until the appearance of Mounjaro. The highest dose costs 128 euros, a much lower price than Mounjaro (up to 300 euros) and its sister drug Wegovy, which could cost as much as 8,290 euros as part of a treatment plan.

Wegovy is exactly the same medicine, but is marketed under a different name to avoid the lack of stock of Ozempic, which is aimed at people with diabetes. The problem in this case is that if the cost of Wegovy is higher for the same medicine, people who already had a prescription for Ozempic have not wanted to switch.

And here comes the other big problem with this family of drugs: not all of them are easy to find. A few months ago, SUR questioned Bidafarma about the problem of stock and the number of boxes sold, with sources at the distributor remaining tight-lipped. "Surely, if we could have all the boxes we wanted, we would be selling 40% more," they said.

In Malaga, not all pharmacies have stocks, especially of Ozempic. Getting on a waiting list has been common practice for at least two years.

Several experts describe the process of bringing a medicine to pharmacies, and why in this case there is a lack of this one in particular. After a drug is manufactured, it is taken to the European Medicines Agency or the Spanish medicines agency, which grants a distribution authorisation. In terms of price, the mechanism that prevails has to do with whether it enters into public provision. There is an inter ministerial price commission, which is the one that has taken the decision that - in the case of Ozempic - it should cost 128 euros. This is very important, because in other countries such as the United States it can be three times or even more expensive.

These experts pointed out, Novo Nordisk would have a distribution problem. This is due to a number of issues, including the fact that many of the active ingredients of the medicines are being manufactured outside the European Union. Wars, the economic situation and even Covid-19 have been affecting international trade for years, which is also hurting the pharmaceutical industry.

The demand for Ozempic was not expected, these sources said. "The problem in Spain is that due to the average income, the commission establishes cheap prices and they are less interested in selling here," they added. In fact, the Wegovy solution does not seem to be working.

For two years now, western countries have been witnessing a kind of fever for these drugs. This coincided with the appearance of anonymous and famous users (Elon Musk is one of them) who shared videos on platforms such as Instagram or TikTok in which they boasted about how a simple injection had helped them lose weight under tags such as #MyOzempicJourney. However, experts were already sounding the alarm and reminding people that it should not be treated as a mere miracle product since, like all treatments, it has side effects.