Ozempic in Ireland: licence, medical card cover, price and supply

What is Ozempic?

Ozempic is a once-weekly injection of semaglutide, made by the Danish company Novo Nordisk A/S, and licensed in the EU for adults with type 2 diabetes. The European Commission granted the marketing authorisation on 8 February 2018 and renewed it on 21 September 2022, according to the EMA product information. Because it is a centralised EU licence, the same authorisation covers Ireland.

The licensed indication is the treatment of adults with insufficiently controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus as an adjunct to diet and exercise, either alone when metformin is unsuitable, or added to other diabetes medicines. It comes in pre-filled pens of 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, 1 mg and 2 mg doses, and it is a prescription-only medicine. Our semaglutide drug page collects the register data on the active substance, and the EMA approvals register tracks newer EU authorisations.

Sources: EMA Ozempic product information and shortage page; HSE PCRS reimbursable items list; HSE Pharmacy Circular 022/20; Minister for Health written answer, 18 March 2026; HPRA medicine shortages list.

Is Ozempic covered by the medical card or Drugs Payment Scheme in Ireland?

Ozempic in Ireland is reimbursed only for people with a medical card (GMS) or a Long-Term Illness card for diabetes, and it is not available on the Drugs Payment Scheme. The HSE set this rule in Pharmacy Circular 022/20 of 21 July 2020, effective from 1 August 2020, and said support is for the licensed indication and dosage only.

The Minister for Health repeated the position in a written answer on 18 March 2026: controls are in place to reimburse GLP-1 medicines only for approved diabetes indications, Ozempic is reimbursed only for GMS or Long-Term Illness patients with type 2 diabetes, and it has no EU licence for weight loss. A July 2026 answer added that off-label prescribing of GLP-1 medicines is not supported for reimbursement under the community drug schemes.

Diabetes mellitus is one of the conditions on the Long-Term Illness Scheme, which is not means tested; gestational diabetes is not included. Under that scheme, approved medicines for the condition are free, including prescription charges. Decisions on what is reimbursed belong to the HSE under the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013.

Ozempic price in Ireland

The only official Ozempic price in Ireland is the HSE reimbursement price: €91.06 per pen for the 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg and 1 mg strengths, and €168.38 for the 2 mg pen, on the PCRS reimbursable items list last updated on 8 October 2026. The HSE circular says one pen of the 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg or 1 mg strength is a four-week supply.

The same list carries Ozempic packs supplied by Originalis B.V., P.C.O. Mfg. and BModesto B.V. at €88.32 per pen. These are the prices the HSE uses to reimburse pharmacies for the medicine, not shelf prices. We found no official source for the private price a pharmacy charges, so we do not quote one.

The Drugs Payment Scheme caps what a household pays for approved prescribed medicines at €80 a month, a limit in place since 1 March 2022. Because Ozempic is excluded from the scheme, that cap does not apply to it.

Ozempic shortage in Ireland: what happened and the status now

As of 18 October 2026, Ozempic is not on the HPRA medicine shortages list, which held 369 entries that day, none of them for semaglutide. The EU-wide shortage that began in 2022 is marked resolved on the EMA shortage page, last updated on 13 January 2026.

The EMA first published the shortage on 19 October 2022, covering the 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg and 1 mg pens. A letter to healthcare professionals, agreed by the EMA committee on 17 February 2023 and sent to national regulators such as the HPRA for translation, said higher than expected demand had caused the shortage, that it would continue throughout 2023, and that it was not related to a quality defect or a safety issue. The letter said any use other than the licensed diabetes indication, including for weight management, is off-label and put supply for the indicated population at risk.

On 26 June 2024 the EU's medicines shortages group recommended that healthcare professionals prescribe Ozempic and other GLP-1 medicines in line with their authorised uses only, and warned of falsified versions sold online. Our Irish drug shortages tracker and EU medicine shortages register follow the current lists, and our EU shortages report explains the patterns.

Ozempic vs Wegovy: the regulatory difference

Ozempic and Wegovy contain the same active substance, semaglutide, from the same holder, Novo Nordisk A/S, but they are separate medicines with different licensed indications and doses. Ozempic is licensed for type 2 diabetes; Wegovy, authorised on 6 January 2022, is licensed for weight management.

Wegovy's adult indication covers weight loss and weight maintenance, with a reduced-calorie diet and more physical activity, in adults with a BMI of 30 or more, or 27 to under 30 with at least one weight-related condition. It also covers adolescents aged 12 and over with obesity and body weight above 60 kg. Its product information sets a weekly maintenance dose of 2.4 mg, with a 7.2 mg weekly dose possible for some adults, and a tablet form with a 25 mg daily maintenance dose. Ozempic's maximum is 2 mg weekly. This is a difference in licence only; it says nothing about which medicine suits any person.

In Ireland, Wegovy is not reimbursed under the community drug schemes and is not on the PCRS list. The National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics completed its assessment on 13 October 2026 and recommended that Wegovy be considered for reimbursement, noting that the budget impact is substantial. The HSE makes the final decision. For tirzepatide (Mounjaro), the HSE said on 6 October 2026 that a proposal from Eli Lilly is under review. Our article on the HSE public funding decision on Mounjaro follows that process. Liraglutide (Saxenda) is the only GLP-1 medicine reimbursed for weight management, through a managed access protocol introduced in January 2023.

Where is Ozempic made, and is there an Irish link?

Ozempic's active substance is made by Novo Nordisk in Kalundborg, Denmark, and batches are released in Bagsværd, Denmark, and Chartres, France, according to the EU product information. No Irish site is named in it.

Novo Nordisk does have an Irish plant: the Monksland site in Athlone, which it agreed to buy from Alkermes for $92.5 million in a deal announced on 14 December 2023. Novo said the site would add development and manufacturing capacity for current and future oral products, and about 400 staff were to transfer. Ozempic is an injection, so we found no source linking it to Athlone. The site appears on our Roscommon pharma map and on the Novo Nordisk company page; our article on the Athlone expansion has the later investment news.

Fake and illegal Ozempic: what the HPRA has found

The HPRA warns that GLP-1 products sold online or outside a registered pharmacy are illegal and may be falsified. In 2025 it detained 48,752 units of GLP-1 type products, up from 1,582 in 2024, according to its enforcement figures of 24 March 2026.

Of the 2025 total, 47,514 units were presented as containing semaglutide or tirzepatide, mostly as drops (27,329 items) and microneedle patches (17,170 items). HPRA testing of a sample of the patches found no semaglutide. The HPRA also began a prosecution over the manufacture and distribution of GLP-1 medicines and shut down or amended 4,762 websites, listings and social media pages across all its enforcement work.

In October 2023 the HPRA reported falsified Ozempic pens at wholesalers in the UK, Germany and Austria, and said there was no evidence they were on the Irish market. Its December 2024 statement advised obtaining authorised medicines from a registered pharmacy and using them under the supervision of a trusted prescriber.

This guide gives regulatory, supply and price facts only. Speak to your doctor or pharmacist about any treatment.