Why generic Ozempic could soon become a lot cheaper in Quebec

The price of drugs like Ozempic may soon drop dramatically in Quebec after a patent expired, which experts predict could cause a surge in demand for the popular weight-loss medication.

Ozempic, which belongs to a class of drugs called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, was approved for sale by Health Canada in 2018 to treat patients with Type 2 diabetes, but has exploded in popularity in recent years as a powerful weight-loss drug.

Until now, medications containing semaglutide, which is the active ingredient in Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus, were patented by Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk. A spokesperson for the company confirmed its semaglutide exclusivity patent in Canada expired Jan. 4, 2026, meaning drug companies in Canada may soon start manufacturing the drug at a much lower price.

“The moment that gets approved, which is very quickly, they could be producing it even as early as next week or the week after,” said Dr. Michael Tsoukas, a professor at McGill University’s Department of Medicine who researches diabetes.

Tsoukas said three pharmaceutical companies who are “big players” in the province have submitted applications to produce generics, but cannot publicly say the company names until the products are approved.

Once the approval goes through, the price of GLP-1 drugs in Quebec could drop by up to 75 per cent.

Areesha Moiz, a clinical research assistant at the Jewish General Hospital specializing in semaglutide treatment, says the cost in Quebec for Ozempic is about $400 per month for patients. Once the production of generic GLP-1 drugs is approved by Health Canada, she says the monthly cost will drop to about $100.

More than one million Canadians take Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy, according to Novo Nordisk. With the price cuts, Tsoukas said that number may grow significantly.

“The major barrier was always economic. It was always access issues. And the actual launch of generic or biosimilar products like these will actually just expand the use of it in the general population,” he said, since they “will not be limited by money.”

In Quebec, 48 per cent of people qualify for semaglutide treatments, according to Tsoukas. He said nearly half the Quebec population have either “obesity, diabetes or a metabolic complication that would actually benefit from GLP-1s.”

The province’s Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) covers semaglutide drugs only to treat Type 2 diabetes — not for weight loss.

“Quebec has made their stance quite clear about how they view obesity. They don’t view obesity as a chronic condition that requires pharmacological treatment,” Moiz said, compared to other provinces like Alberta which declared obesity as a chronic condition.

“Quebec, I think, is still subscribed to the traditional view of obesity, which is that, ‘oh, it’s a patient’s responsibility. It’s their onus to take care of it,’ even though it’s been proven, time and time again, that this is a real chronic condition,” similar to hypertension or diabetes. She thinks the province may be more inclined to cover the drug when the generics come out and the prices drop.

While pharmaceutical experts predict the low costs in Quebec will create a surge in demand, one expert says Quebec’s doctor shortage could be a barrier to accessing the drug.

“These drugs, I mean, while they are effective and they can be very useful in a variety of contexts, I do think they need to be monitored appropriately,” said Dr. René Wittmer, a professor at Université de Montréal who specializes in overdiagnosis and overmedicalization.

Some patients requesting this drug have body image issues or eating disorders, and Wittmer says it’s critical for doctors to be able to be wary of this and have regular followups “to be sure we’re not causing harm while trying to help our patients.”

“If we become more lenient on what kind of followup is required, we might be harming patients along the way.”

lschertzer@postmedia.com

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