Is Semaglutide legal in New Zealand?

Medsafe's data sheet for Wegovy gives 20 March 2025 as the date of first approval. It covers chronic weight management in adults with obesity, or overweight plus a weight-related condition, weight management in adolescents aged 12 and over with obesity, and reducing major cardiovascular events in adults with established cardiovascular disease, a BMI of 27 or more and no diabetes. Pharmac does not fund Wegovy; it sits on Pharmac's Options for Investment list after an advisory group rated it high priority in December 2025. Ozempic (semaglutide for type 2 diabetes) has had Medsafe consent since 16 March 2023, but Medsafe's product records list it as 'not available', meaning the company has told Medsafe it does not market or supply it; it has no data sheet in Medsafe's index. Pharmac's December 2025 advisory record notes an Ozempic funding application for type 2 diabetes that its pharmacology committee rated high priority. Semaglutide is a prescription medicine, so unapproved versions can only be supplied through the narrow prescriber and pharmacist exemptions.