Compounded Medication
A drug created by a compounding pharmacy combining, mixing, or altering ingredients to create a medication tailored to the needs of an individual patient.
When FDA-approved drugs face national shortages (as has been the case with Wegovy, Ozempic, and Zepbound), the FDA permits compounding pharmacies to create generic equivalents of these drugs using the raw active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) like semaglutide salt.
Compounded medications are not FDA-approved, meaning the FDA does not verify their safety or effectiveness. However, they are legally permitted and heavily utilized in telehealth given the current drug shortages and the high cash price of branded injectables.
Patients electing to use compounded drugs should ensure their telehealth provider partners with state-licensed 503A or 503B compounding pharmacies.