A new weight loss medicine is now available in Alava pharmacies.

The Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) already announced last week that it will be available in all pharmacies in the territory this month. This drug, owned by the same Danish company (Novo Nordisk) that sells Ozempic, is indicated only under “strict medical prescriptions,” Lopez de Ocariz explains. For its part, AEMPS fundamentally asks that priority be given to prescribing treatment for glycemic control in people with type 2 diabetes. Because this new drug is part of the GLP-1 analogue drugs that are approved “to improve sugar control in the treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) that is not well controlled by diet and exercise.”

Both Ozempic and its new equivalent share the active ingredient semaglutide, which synthetically replicates a natural hormone that acts on the appetite centers in the brain and gut to promote a feeling of fullness. The product description states that clinical trials show semaglutin not only “reduces calorie intake and increases feelings of fullness,” but also helps control “the frequency and intensity of food cravings.” “In addition, this drug reduces preference for high-fat foods.”

Until now, only Saxenda has been approved for weight control, but several new drugs have recently been approved, including Vegovi. The Mara Etchaberry pharmacy in Vitoria claims that although “it is available in the cooperative where we order medicines daily (Cofares), we do not have it because at the moment no one has asked us for it.”