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Welcome to Navigating OZMPIC, the show where we break down the latest news, science and real-world
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impact of OZMPIC and other medications in its class. So listeners can make sense of a very
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fast-moving story in health and lifestyle. Today we are focusing on a wave of new research
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and policy developments that have landed in just the past few days.
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These updates touch on everything, from how affordable OZMPIC could eventually become
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around the world, to surprising new findings about the heart, addiction and what really happens
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when you stop these medications. Let us start with cost and global access, because that is where
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so many conversations about OZMPIC begin and end. According to a recent analysis reported by
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stat news, scientists looking at the raw ingredient costs for semi-glutide, the active compound in
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OZMPIC found that generic versions of OZMPIC and Wegovie could theoretically be mass-produced for
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around $3 per person per month in low and middle income countries once patents expire and competition
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arrives. The analysis estimated that the active ingredient could be manufactured for between $28
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and $140 per year, which is dramatically lower than current retail prices in many high-income
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markets. The key news is that patents for semi-glutide are starting to expire this month,
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in countries including India, China, Canada, Brazil and Turkey, with a few more countries to follow
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later this year. Stat News reports that this is expected to open the door for generic manufacturers,
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especially in India to begin competing on price and to widen access for diabetes and obesity
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treatment, far beyond wealthy healthcare systems. For listeners, this raises a big question.
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If the medication can be made so cheaply, why is it still so expensive at the pharmacy counter?
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That gap between possible manufacturing cost and actual price is likely to be a major policy
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and political issue over the coming year, especially as more countries and insurers struggle
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to cover demand. It also highlights a growing divide. On one hand, OZMPIC and similar drugs
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are transforming care for people who can access them. On the other hand, most of the world still
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cannot afford these treatments at scale, even for diabetes, let alone for obesity. The next
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major story has to do with the heart, and it suggests that these drugs might do more than help
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listeners lose weight or control blood sugar. Researchers at the University of Bristol and
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University College London, in a study covered by Science Daily, have just reported that medications
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like OZMPIC, WIGOVY and MANGARO may help protect the heart after a heart attack in a very
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specific way. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, looked at the complication
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of heart attacks called no reflow. No reflow happens when doctors successfully reopen a blocked
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major artery, but the tiny blood vessels deeper in the heart muscles stay narrowed. In up to half
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of heart attack patients, this no reflow problem limits blood supply, raises the risk of further
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damage, and increases the chance of heart failure or death within a year. The Bristol and
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University College London team found that drugs in the OZMPIC family, known as Glucagan-like peptide
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one receptor agonists, seemed to relax specialized cells called parasites that sit on those tiny
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coronary vessels. In animal models, activating the Glucagan-like peptide one pathway opened up
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these small vessels, improved blood flow, and reduced downstream heart damage. The lead researchers
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suggest that medications like OZMPIC could be repurposed in the future as part of acute heart attack
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care specifically to prevent no reflow, not just as chronic diabetes or weight loss drugs.
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While this is still early stage and conducted in models rather than large human trials,
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it adds to growing evidence that these medications have direct cardiovascular benefits
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that go beyond simply reducing weight or blood sugar levels.
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Another major thread
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In the news is the impact of OZMPIC-like drugs on addiction and substance use.
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Science magazine has just reported on a large study published in the British Medical Journal
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that analyzed health records for more than 600,000 veterans in the United States.
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In this study, people with diabetes who were prescribed a Glucagan-like peptide one drug,
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such as semi-glutide, were compared to similar patients who used a different diabetes drug class
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called sodium glucose-co-transporter-2 inhibitors. According to the researchers,
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those on a Glucagan-like peptide one drug were 14% less likely to develop a new substance use
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disorder involving alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, nicotine, or opioids.
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Over three years, patients on these drugs had about 30% fewer drug-related emergency room visits.
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25% fewer drug-related hospitalizations and roughly 40% fewer overdoses than those on the
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comparison medications. Deaths related to substance use were about half as common
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and suicidal thinking or attempts were lower as well. Experts quoted by Science described these
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results as exciting, but also caution that this type of observational data cannot prove cause
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an effect. It could be that patients on these drugs differ in important ways that the analysis
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did not fully capture. Still, the findings align with earlier smaller trials suggesting that semi-glutide
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might reduce alcohol intake in people with alcohol use disorder. Some clinicians are already
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prescribing these medications off-label for addiction, but addiction researchers stress that
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current evidence is not strong enough to replace established treatments. What this study does show
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is that the Glucagan-like peptide-1 system, which ozemic targets, appears to influence reward pathways
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in the brain in a fairly broad way, possibly dampening cravings not only for food, but for
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several addictive substances. Larger randomized trials now underway will be critical in determining
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whether ozemic or related drugs will become formally approved tools in addiction medicine.
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So, we have heart-prote.