In this picture illustration, boxes of the diabetes drug Ozempic rest on a drug store counter on April 17, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images
Novo Nordisk on Tuesday took legal action against 5 medical medspas and health centers for presumably offering more affordable, unapproved variations of the business’s weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.
The Danish drugmaker started the suits in federal courts in New York, Texas, Florida and Tennessee, according to problems acquired by CNBC.
The fits implicated the day spas and centers of marketing and selling “compounded” drug items that declare to consist of semaglutide, the active component in both Ozempic and Wegovy. Compounded drugs are customized variations of a treatment that are not authorized by the Food and Drug Administration.
Novo Nordisk is the sole patent holder of semaglutide and does not offer that active ingredient to outdoors entities. It’s uncertain what the day spas and centers are in fact offering to customers.
Novo Nordisk asked the courts for orders obstructing the sales of the unapproved drugs and an undefined quantity of cash damages.
“These unlawful marketing and sales practices, including the use of Novo Nordisk trademarks in connection with these practices, have created a high risk of consumer confusion and deception as well as potential safety concerns,” the business composed in a news release Tuesday.
The day spas and centers called in the suits consist of Pro Health Investments, Champion Health & Wellness Clinics and Flawless Image Medical Aesthetics.
It likewise consists of Effinger Health, which runs as Nuvida Rx Weight Loss, and Ekzotika Corp., which is working as Cosmetic Laser Professionals Med Spa. The latter center uses a $30 Groupon for a one-week “semaglutide weight management program.”
The day spas and centers didn’t right away react to CNBC’s ask for remark.
The fits come in the middle of a lack of Wegovy and Ozempic, which has actually resulted in a boom in intensified options that declare to be the popular injections.
The FDA last month cautioned about the security threats of unapproved variations of Ozempic and Wegovy after reports emerged of unfavorable health responses to intensified variations of the drugs.
Several states have actually likewise threatened to take legal action versus intensifying drug stores that make or disperse unapproved variations of Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss treatments.
