Jensen’s Community Pharmacy is offering a unique alternative to some of the big name weight loss prescription medications.

This local pharmacy, with locations in Saline and Dexter, said it starts with semaglutide which is one of the active ingredients contained in injectable medications for diabetes and weight loss. To learn more about this, the Sun Times News connected with Dr Steven Jensen, owner and pharmacist of these local pharmacies.

He said semaglutide “is a GLP-1 Receptor agonist that mimics one of the body’s hormones which can help patients control blood sugar and lose weight by increasing satiety, delaying stomach emptying and modulating insulin response.”

“The majority of GLP-1 prescriptions that come into the pharmacy are for weight-loss,” Jensen said. “These medications aren’t really for the person that needs to lose 5 pounds to fit into a wedding dress; they are for those that need to lose 10 to 20 percent of their body weight.”

According to Jensen, “There are challenges with getting the medication into the body. Semaglutide is a large molecular weight peptide that is easily degraded in the stomach so the primary route of delivery is via subcutaneous injection.”

In explaining it, he said, “We are compounding a semaglutide suspension that can be held under the tongue for several minutes a day to allow for absorption. We are using a special suspending vehicle that will help push large molecules like semaglutide through the oral tissue.”

There are three primary reasons for compounding in this manner, Jensen said:

-For patients that have an aversion to needles and would prefer an alternative route of administration.

-There has been an ongoing shortage of these medications commercially for the past 18 months, so patients may not be able to begin therapy or continue therapy uninterrupted.

-Many insurances do not cover these medications for weight loss and with out of pocket costs exceeding $1,400 per month, it is out of reach for many patients.

“We are able to compound this for a reasonable cost and we would like this medication to be available to those who cannot get a commercially available product for the above reasons. This compound still requires a prescription from your physician,” Jensen said. “This is a novel method of delivery for semaglutide and the dosing is not the same as injections so we have information on our website to help physicians understand how to prescribe. We do also have a telemedicine option for patients that do not have a primary care physician to evaluate them.”

The pharmacy is beginning to see more success stories as time goes on and have patients gradually increase their dosage.

“We are seeing losses of 10 and 15 pounds in the first few months. The key is to stick with it, some patients are more sensitive to the medication and see results quickly,” Jensen said. “Others may need to increase the dose over several months before they see benefit”

He emphasized, “This medication is only a tool for patients to get started on their weight loss and leverage the effects on appetite and satiety to make changes to their lifestyle choices. I don’t believe these medications will lead to sustainable results without hard work on the patient’s part to make these changes”

Jensen believes they are the only local Ann Arbor area pharmacy to be compounding this, “not all independent pharmacies compound and none of the chain pharmacies have the facilities or training to create compounded products of any complexity,” he said.

Their other main focus for compounding medications is providing unique solutions for pets; making prescription medications into treats, suspensions, capsules, small tablets and transdermal gels.

“Being able to offer solutions to patients’ problems in ways that cannot be met by off the shelf medications is one of the more enjoyable aspects of independent pharmacy,” Jensen said.

Jensen’s in Dexter is located at 7067 Dexter Ann Arbor Road and can be reached at 734-426-6210. Its located in Saline at 968 E. Michigan Avenue and can be reached at 734-429-9053. Its website is https://www.jensenscommunitypharmacy.com/.

Photos: Working on compounding. Photos courtesy of Jensen’s Community Pharmacy