COULD THE NEW GENERATION OF ANTI-OBESITY INJECTIONS BE A GAME-CHANGER?

UK chemists will soon be selling the weight-loss jabs

- PROF GILES YEO

The worst kept secret in Hollywood!" shout the headlines. This particular badly-kept secret involves a pricey new weight-loss drug called Semaglutide. If you take the glossy celebrity magazines at face value, fans of these $1,200-a-month injections include Kim Kardashian and Elon Musk. But in mid-February, the weight-loss treatment moved beyond the A-list when UK high-street chemists announced they would be selling Semaglutide injections from spring 2023. At the time of writing, the UK price had not been disclosed.

So what is Semaglutide? Is it safe? And could it be a game-changer for tackling the broader public health crisis of obesity? Semaglutide is manufactured by the Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, and sold under the names Ozempic and Wegovy. Ozempic, in particular, made international headlines last year after going viral on TikTok, with the #MyOzempicJourney trend showcasing scarcely believable body transformations. Wegovy is the one going on sale in the UK.