Official communication about our medicines
containing semaglutide from Novo Nordisk
This site is intended for a US audience
ILLEGAL MASS COMPOUNDING
Mass compounding GLP-1s is not proven to be safe or effective at any price. Read more about what Novo Nordisk is doing to protect patients from unproven, potentially unsafe knockoffs.
It can be risky to take, ineffective, or worse.
aIn some samples
Researchers discovered samples of compounded “semaglutide” that contained:
Dangerous Impurities
(such as trace metals and residual solvents)
Unnecessary and Risky Ingredients
(formaldehyde adducts, for example)
Banned and Unknown Substances3
(like BPC-157)
Compounded “semaglutide” that melts under your tongue, dissolves against your cheek, or comes in a pill?
Don’t count on them. When it comes to risk, the FDA has deemed that these versions can be hazardous.7
Compounded “semaglutide” is NOT approved by the FDA.
It’s not reviewed.
Despite misleading advertising, the FDA does not review it for safety, effectiveness, or quality.
Safe? Not necessarily.
Without FDA approval, these products are made by compounding pharmacies that are not required to track, evaluate, or report side effects and adverse events.
Not proven.
No FDA approval means the benefits and risks are unknown.1
It's illegal to make or sell.
Authentic Wegovy® and Ozempic® are fully available nationwide, which makes it illegal to make or sell compounded "semaglutide" except for rare circumstances (such as a documented allergy to an inactive ingredient).8
FDA-approved treatments exist and are fully available.
Novo Nordisk makes the only FDA-approved medicines containing semaglutide, which have been reviewed for safety, effectiveness, and quality.
Don’t take our word for it. Experts are warning the public.
Government agencies, medical boards, and public health organizations are warning patients and healthcare providers about the risks of compounded “semaglutide."
“The safety risks from continued mass compounding of GLP-1s are heightened because compounded GLP-1s rely on a supply of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) from dangerous and illegal foreign sources.”9
—Center for Medicine in the Public Interest
“…there can be errors in compounding or contamination of the product because compounding pharmacies are not held to the same standards of larger drug manufacturers.”10
—National Capital Poison Center
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References:
1. United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA’s concerns with unapproved GLP-1 drugs used for weight loss. May 16, 2025. Accessed January 2026. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/postmarket-drug-safety-information-patients-and-providers/fdas-concerns-unapproved-glp-1-drugs-used-weight-loss.
2. Brookings Institution. The wild east of semaglutide. April 21, 2025. Accessed January 2026. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-wild-east-of-semaglutide/.
3. Hach M, Engelund DK, Mysling S, et al. Impact of manufacturing process and compounding on properties and quality of follow-on GLP-1 polypeptide drugs. Pharm Res. 2024 October;41(10):1991-2014.
4. United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA alerts health care providers, compounders and patients of dosing errors associated with compounded injectable semaglutide products. July 26, 2024. Accessed January 2026. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/fda-alerts-health-care-providers-compounders-and-patients-dosing-errors-associated-compounded.
5. United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Warning letter to Hims & Hers Health, Inc. September 9, 2025. Accessed January 2026. https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/hims-hers-health-inc-dba-hers-09092025.
6. Nomination from Covington & Burling LLP on behalf of Novo Nordisk Inc. to docket no. FDA-2017-N-2562. October 22, 2024. Accessed January 2026. https://downloads.regulations.gov/FDA-2017-N-2562-0029/attachment_1.pdf.
7. United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Drug products or categories of drug products that present demonstrable difficulties for compounding under sections 503A Or 503B of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. March 20, 2024. Accessed January 2026. https://www.regulations.gov/document/FDA-2023-N-0061-0001.
8. United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA clarifies policies for compounders as national GLP-1 supply beings to stabilize. April 28, 2025. Accessed January 2026. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-clarifies-policies-compounders-national-glp-1-supply-begins-stabilize.
9. Center for Medicine in the Public Interest. FDA regulatory failures in enforcing Limits on GLP-1 compounding puts patients at risk. July 21, 2025. Accessed January 2026. https://cmpi.org/in-the-news/fda-regulatory-failures-in-enforcing-limits-on-glp-1-compounding-puts-patients-at-risk.
10. National Capital Poison Center. What is Ozempic? December 23, 2023. Accessed January 2026. https://www.poison.org/articles/can-ozempic-help-me-lose-weight.