It’s an economic, social and cultural phenomenon. An open secret among the rich and famous, the basis of a new South Park special, and the driver behind pharma giant Novo Nordisk’s rise to become the highest-valued company in Europe. Ozempic and Mounjaro (made by competitor Eli Lily), and the family of related drugs known as GLP-1 and GIP/GLP-1 agonists, were developed for managing Type 2 Diabetes, but soon became known for their significant effects on appetite suppression and weight loss.
For decades, pharma companies have been searching for the commercial holy grail: a drug that is both safe and effective for weight loss. Many contenders have entered the arena, but none survived long term. Enter these drugs, with additional varieties like Wegovy (the same drug as Ozempic but in a slightly higher dose) now approved for weight loss specifically.
Such is the demand, worldwide shortages of semaglutide (the generic name for Ozempic and Wegovy) left people with Type 2 diabetes unable to access the medication their doctor prescribed. In some countries, this led to a restriction on prescribing it for people without diabetes. What happened next was exactly what you’d expect. Fueled by blockbuster demand that couldn’t be met, compounding pharmacies began taking matters into their own hands, allegedly mass-producing the drug. In some cases, copycat versions of the drug were allegedly produced, in sub-standard conditions, sold online and shipped around the world.
What does this all have to do with cycling? Well as the saying goes, sport reflects society, and over the past year some members of the Escape Collective team have become aware of significant use of these weight-loss drugs in (non-professional) parts of the cycling community. With the allure of easy weight loss in a sport that’s weight-sensitive when the road starts to incline, and that places a high value on the stick-thin physique of many of its global superstars, it’s not surprising that Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and related drugs would turn up in our sport.
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