Ozempic Is Taking Off With the World’s Largest Obese Population. (Hint: It Isn’t the U.S.)

China has more obese people than anywhere else in the world, and they are increasingly turning to weight-loss drugs to solve the problem.

That is fueling a gray market of drug sellers and buyers, who have little trouble getting around China’s rules on the use of Ozempic. 

Ozempic isn’t available for weight loss in the country, instead being reserved for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. But users on e-commerce platforms are able to buy the shots, colloquially known as “miracle drugs,” simply by declaring they have been diagnosed with diabetes—without providing proof. 

They aren’t getting a bad deal: On JD.com, an Ozempic shot retails for around $139. That is higher than its cost on the country’s national-insurance plan but much cheaper than the $970 some users pay in the U.S. JD.com didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The gray market for Ozempic highlights a conundrum facing China’s government—how to tackle the world’s biggest obesity problem.