Russians spent almost 6 billion rubles on Ozempic generics

Sales of analogues of this drug have set a record since Ozempic entered the Russian market in 2020. Between January and October 2023, Russian pharmacies earned 297 million rubles from the sale of 20,000 packages of the drug, while in 2022 the Russians bought 256,000 packages for 1.9 billion rubles.

“The medicine contains semaglutide (a glucagon-like peptide GLP-1 receptor agonist, which is involved in glucose metabolism and appetite control – editor’s note). Thanks to this substance, the patient almost does not feel hungry, which allows him to get rid of extra kilos,” Nikolai Bespalov, development director of RNC Pharma, told the newspaper.

Participants in the pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical market surveyed by Vedomosti confirmed the growing popularity of ozempik analogues among Russians. The newspaper described this category of medicines from the Farmacia 25 chain as one of the fastest growing: the network sold more than 3 thousand packages in 2024.

Sales of the drug on the Zdravcity market between January and October 2023 amounted to nine packages, and during the same period in 2024, Russians purchased 33.6 thousand packages of the original drug.

One of the largest pharmacy chains in Russia, Rigla, told Vedomosti that in 10 months of 2023 the company sold 117 packages of Ozempic, and during the same period this year, almost 112 thousand packages of Russian analogues of the Danish drug.

Ozempic is used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus and has been included in the list of vital and essential medicines since 2022. Following the start of the military operation in eastern Ukraine, the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk notified Roszdravnadzor that it would stop to supply the medicine to Russia.