Moderation and self-control used to serve as WeightWatchers' main talking points, but the company has since transitioned to hooking up its customers with doctors who can prescribe weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, via its WeightWatchers Clinic telehealth service. But it's been a "rocky pivot," per Fast Company, which notes there've been shortages of the so-called GLP-1 meds, which nearly half of Clinic customers can't get their insurance companies to cover. Now, another swerve: WeightWatchers will permit customers whose insurance won't cover the Novo Nordisk name brands to access weight-loss meds using compounded semaglutide and sold through its own online prescription service.
WeightWatchers has teamed up with a compounding facility that's been registered with the FDA, and that will churn out a monthly supply of the knockoff meds at a cost of $129 per customer for the first month, then $189 per month after that, per Quartz (a $49 initial fee and Clinic membership is also required, and a disclaimer notes that price may be adjusted). A month's supply of the name brands, meanwhile, runs closer to $1,000. Stock prices for the company spiked in early October with the news, with shares jumping nearly 25%, per Investopedia.
But although investors and customers might be stoked, health experts are worried about the risks of such copycat drugs. Fast Company notes that facilities that make compounded semaglutide can churn out dangerous product if they're not regulated; some running without regulation have already produced meds that caused vomiting and other side effects for patients. And even though the facility that WeightWatchers uses is FDA-approved, "it's sending customers a decidedly mixed message for a business that, at its heart, is about selling people on behavioral change." (More WeightWatchers stories.)
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