Boris Johnson, who around a year ago was forced out as prime minister of the U.K. and now this month has left the British government entirely, has picked up the pen once again in a new role for the Daily Mail.
Of all the topics up for discussion in one of the world’s largest online papers such as Brexit, the war in Ukraine, the cost-of-living crisis, his ignominious departure as both PM and now as a member of Parliament, Johnson decided to write about Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic.
However, he didn't write a story about diabetes; instead, he focused on his weight loss journey, which he had been publicly attempting since 2020. His motivation stemmed from his severe illness and hospitalization due to COVID-19, which he later attributed, in part, to his weight.
Ozempic is not approved for weight loss but rather to help lower sugar levels in patients with diabetes. However, it often has a side effect of weight loss for many individuals. It has the same ingredient as Wegovy, namely semaglutide, though with different dosing.
Ozempic can be used in the U.K. off-label for weight loss, and Wegovy was in March recommended for use in the taxpayer-funded National Health Service in England, though constraints on supply from Novo is curbing its global rollout.
In his first column for the Daily Mail and in his well-used exuberant style, Johnson calls Ozempic the “wonder drug I hoped would stop my 11.30pm fridge raids for cheddar and chorizo," though he laments that it “didn’t work for me” but still “believes it could change the lives of millions.”
Perhaps a little confused that Wegovy is the approved weight loss drug and not Ozempic, Johnson noted in the article that many of his now former colleagues at the House of Commons also use Ozempic in an effort to slim down.
He goes into some detail on how drug works and why he decided to use it after a trip to the doctor.
“After 40 years of moral failure, 40 years of weakness in the face of temptation—of akrasia—I was going to acquire a new and invincible chemical willpower. I was going to become an ex-glutton, a person of moderation and grace and restraint, and like my Cabinet colleagues I was going to start to resemble a chiselled whippet.”
Alas, the drug made Johnson feel nauseous and despite losing “four or five pounds a week,” he decided it was not for him. “One minute I would be fine, and the next minute I would be talking to Ralph on the big white phone; and I am afraid that I decided that I couldn’t go on.”
Johnson, who was mayor of London before becoming PM and a major backer of life sciences in the country’s capital, still sees these drugs as the future of slimming down an increasingly obese population and saving money and lives as a result.
Johnson has had a tumultuous few years. After pushing through Brexit, the U.K. departure from the EU, Johnson proved a major vote winner for the Conservative Party in 2019, trouncing the Labour opposition.
How he handled the COVID outbreak just a few months after that resounding victory would be his undoing, however, and he was, last year, forced to resign as prime minister after he was found to have breached his own government’s COVID rules during the lockdown period.
Things got worse this month when he abruptly quit as a member of Parliament after a MP-led report accused him of serious failings and misjudgments when it came to how he handled the allegations of rule-breaking during lockdown in the country.
This column may well lead to further contention and prove to be an additional headache for Novo, which is scaling back marketing for Wegovy due to ongoing struggles in manufacturing enough of the drug. Novo has also had to contend with Ozempic and Wegovy becoming like gold dust for celebrities.
This has constrained Novo’s capacity at times to supply these drugs and is doubly frustrating when it comes to Ozempic, given that it is approved for Type 2 diabetes and not specifically for weight loss.