Mixed messages

A new open letter from Eli Lilly makes it clear that the company doesn’t want its GLP-1 inhibitors — Mounjaro and Zepbound — to be used for cosmetic purposes: “Lilly does not promote or encourage use of Mounjaro, Zepbound, or any Lilly medicines outside of a medicine’s FDA-approved indication.” (Mounjaro and Zepbound are only approved for treating diabetes and obesity, respectively.)

In unrelated news, Eli Lilly has launched a new direct-to-consumer effort, partnering with telehealth company Form Health to offer online diagnosis and prescriptions for diabetes, migraines, and obesity.

With LillyDirect Pharmacy Solutions you can enjoy the ease and convenience of getting select Lilly brand medicines delivered directly to you.
We currently offer select Lilly diabetes, migraine, and obesity medicines.

CVS boots Humira

CVS (the PBM) has removed AbbVie’s Humira from most of its formularies, replacing it with cheaper biosimilars beginning April 1. That is all.

FDA looks at GLP-1 side effects

As new weight-loss drugs gain popularity, more side effects are coming out. Most people know about the, er, gastrointestinal issues that can occur, as well as “Ozempic face” and even the sulfurous “Ozempic burp.”

Now the FDA is looking at some new issues that have arisen in reports: suicidal thoughts, hair loss, and aspiration, “a condition often associated with surgery in which people breathe food, liquids, vomit or saliva into their lungs.”

But here’s a twist

A new study in Nature Medicine finds that “Weight loss and diabetes drugs Wegovy and Ozempic are not linked to an increase in suicidal thoughts.” So the FDA’s concerns and the actual data may have crossed paths.

Burn this item after reading

GPhA member Buffy Gougelmann (left), presents Georgia State Representative Michelle Au with a PharmPAC check this week at Buffy’s store, Premier Compounding Pharmacy in Johns Creek.

Representative Au, a member of the House Public Health Committee and a practicing anesthesiologist (aptly pronounced ow), bridges the worlds of medicine and legislation and is a good friend to GPhA.

Burn after reading?

Here’s a cool member tidbit: If you go to Buffy’s compounding pharmacy, you might get your compounded medication shaken, not stirred. Buffy’s dad, Tucker Gougelmann, is represented by the 78th star in the CIA Book of Honor in Langley.

Says Melissa Reybold, GPhA’s vice president of public policy:

I’ve known Buffy since the ’90s when we worked together at Costco Pharmacy. One night I saw Buffy on the History Channel being interviewed about her dad on a documentary about CIA agents. Of course, I made her tell me all about it the next day. Her dad’s story would be a great movie.

With the Georgia legislative session kicking off next Monday, January 8, stay tuned for Melissa’s full reports here. For quick updates, follow her on Twitter @melissareybold.

Elsewhere: Florida’s plan (and Canadian hurdles)

The FDA has given approval to Florida’s request to try to import drugs from Canada at those lower Canadian prices.

“Try” because for one thing there are still US hurdles to jump.

Among other things, [Florida] has to specify which drugs it wants to import, verify that they meet FDA’s standards and relabel them.

A major stumbling block? Canada isn’t keen on exporting its limited drug supply to the US because their supply is limited, plus there’s a bit of “Solve your own problems, eh?” And one thing we’ve learned is that you don’t want to get on Canadians’ bad side. (Also: US drugmakers are already planning to sue, claiming that Canadian and other imported drugs are somehow not safe.)

But, you know, good luck!

The placebo effect has nuance

Obviously different doses of meds have different effects. Duh. It seems, though, that even the placebo effect can be dose dependent. In other words, patients’ reaction to a placebo will vary depending on how big a dose they think they’re getting.

In the case of the Mount Sinai researchers who discovered this, they gave e-cigarettes to nicotine addicts, telling them the vapes contained either low-, medium-, or high-strength nicotine.

Those e-cigs were actually all the same, but the scientists found that brain scans indicated “that the thalamus, an important binding site for nicotine in the brain, showed a dose-dependent response to the subject’s beliefs about nicotine strength.”

And if it works for placebos, maybe it could work for actual medication, too.

“The finding that human beliefs about drugs play such a pivotal role suggests that we could potentially enhance patients’ responses to pharmacological treatments by leveraging these beliefs.”

New drug … or moon crater?

It’s that time again — time to play the latest version of everyone’s favorite pharmaceutical game!

This time, five of these are new drugs approved by the FDA in 2023, and five are named craters on the moon. Do you know which is which?

  • Cyfendus
  • Ganswindt
  • Kapteyn
  • Ogsiveo
  • Pitatus
  • Respighi
  • Rezzayo
  • Roctavian
  • Schjellerup
  • Skyclarys

Check (or get) your answers here.

You can play previous versions of the game!