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By Caden Fanshaw

Health

BC to take action to restrict sale of Ozempic to US customers

Mar 28, 2023 | 10:54 AM

PRINCE GEORGE – Unusually high sales of semaglutide (Ozempic) to customers based in the United States has forced the BC Government to take action.

Ozempic is an injectable prescription drug designed to treat Type 2 diabetes mellitus and contains the active ingredient semaglutide. To date, British Columbia has not experienced any shortages of the drug.

B.C.’s PharmaNet data indicates that an unusually high percentage of the dispenses of Ozempic are being purchased by U.S. patients from pharmacies located in British Columbia. In January and February 2023, 15% or 15,798 of Ozempic dispenses in B.C. were sold to U.S. residents.

U.S. residents made up 19% or 12,816 of all patients who were dispensed the drug by a pharmacy in the province. The average of other drugs sold to Americans is 0.4%.

“The purpose of procuring the drug Ozempic for British Columbia is not to turn around and export it to Americans. It is to make sure patients in British Columbia and Canada requiring the drug to treat their Type 2 diabetes can continue to access it,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “For this reason, we are taking action to ensure Type 2 diabetes patients maintain access to Ozempic.”

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To protect the supply of this drug for residents of B.C. and Canada who need it, the Province intends to amend regulations to limit the sale or dispensing of Ozempic to non-Canadian residents in situations where there are potential supply issues.