Dr. Reddy's Semaglutide Canada Update: Shortage, Recalls and Next Steps

If your pharmacy says your Dr. Reddy’s pen is out of stock, or you spotted a recall notice, this page explains what went wrong. It covers the shortage, both recalls by lot number, how drug plans reacted and how to move to another pen.

If you are about to pay cash for a replacement, our generic Ozempic price comparison shows what each pharmacy chain charges. Apo-Semaglutide is the only other generic Ozempic being sold, so its price is the one to check.

What is Dr. Reddy’s semaglutide?

Dr. Reddy’s Semaglutide Injection is a generic copy of Ozempic for adults with type 2 diabetes ¹. The approval belongs to Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. in India, and its Canadian importer and distributor is Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Canada Inc. in Mississauga, Ontario ⁸.

Health Canada approved it on April 28, 2026, under Notice of Compliance 37419 ². It came through an Abbreviated New Drug Submission, the generic route, while Ozempic was authorized in 2018 through a full New Drug Submission as a biologic ².

The regulator said it finished the review inside its 180-day target, and it called Canada the first G7 country to approve a generic semaglutide ¹. That “first G7” line is Health Canada’s own claim.

Like the other generics, it is made by chemistry rather than biology. The monograph says it is produced by “solid-phase synthetic chemistry” ⁸. Health Canada calls these products pharmaceutically equivalent to the brand, once the maker shows its differences do not change safety, efficacy or quality ¹.

The two Dr. Reddy’s pens

• Starter pen, DIN 02567806. It holds 2 mg in 1.5 mL, at 1.34 mg/mL. A new pen gives four 0.25 mg doses and two 0.5 mg doses, and 6 needles come in the carton ^7,8.
• 1 mg pen, DIN 02567814. It holds 4 mg in 3 mL at the same 1.34 mg/mL, for four 1 mg doses, with 4 needles in the carton ^7,8.

Neither pen gives a 2 mg weekly dose, and the monograph says another product is needed for that ⁸. Dr. Reddy’s was simply the first generic through the door; our guide to generic Ozempic in Canada covers the others.

How to tell if your pen is a Dr. Reddy’s pen

The Dr. Reddy’s product has no brand name of its own. Its label reads Semaglutide Injection, with Dr. Reddy’s as the company, while the Apotex pen says Apo-Semaglutide ⁷.

The DIN is the surest check. Dr. Reddy’s pens carry DIN 02567806 or 02567814 ⁷.

One more wrinkle: Aspen’s second approval is also called Semaglutide Injection, but it is not sold yet. So a pen with that name on your counter today is most likely from Dr. Reddy’s ⁷.

First on shelves

Health Canada’s database records May 6, 2026 as the first market date for both pens ⁷. The company said its pens arrived in select Canadian pharmacies on May 20 ^3,4.

Why Dr. Reddy’s semaglutide is hard to find

The company stopped producing new batches in July 2026 after it found a quality problem with its active pharmaceutical ingredient, the semaglutide itself ^5,6. No new batches means nothing new for pharmacies to order.

Alberta Blue Cross logged the first public sign. Its July bulletin says Dr. Reddy’s reported a shortage on July 10, 2026 ⁹. Reuters later reported that Canadian supply would be disrupted “until at least late October” ⁵.

On July 22, the company’s CEO told investors it planned to resume commercial supply of semaglutide by November ⁶. He also said Dr. Reddy’s had sold 180,000 pens in Canada before supply stopped, and the company set aside a provision of 240 crore rupees for the problem ⁶.

Why Health Canada still says “Marketed”

Look up either DIN today and Health Canada’s Drug Product Database still shows the pens as Marketed ⁷. That status tells you the product is on the market in the regulator’s records. It does not tell you whether a pharmacy has a box on the shelf.

Our read: treat November as the company’s goal, not a promise. As of October 22, 2026, a restart had not been confirmed.

The two Dr. Reddy’s recalls, lot by lot

Health Canada posted two recalls of Dr. Reddy’s semaglutide in August 2026. Both were Type II recalls at the retail level: one for a packing mix-up in a single lot, the other for an impurity across eight lots ^10,11.

RA-82477: the wrong pen in the box

The first notice, on August 12, covers one lot of the starter pen: DIN 02567806, lot 7000544C ¹⁰. The product was labelled as a 2 mg pen, but the lot contained a 4 mg pen ¹⁰.

Why does that matter? The 4 mg pen is the one that dials 1 mg doses, while the starter pen dials 0.25 mg or 0.5 mg ⁸. So a person expecting the starter pen could have been holding the 4 mg pen, which holds twice as much drug.

RA-82537: an impurity out of specification

The second notice, on August 27, is wider. It pulls three starter-pen lots (7000544, 7000545 and 7000546) and five lots of the 1 mg pen (7000542, 7000543, 7000624, 7000628 and 7000629). In all of them, an impurity tested outside its specification ¹¹.

If you still have a Dr. Reddy’s pen at home

1. Find the lot number on the pen and its carton, and compare it with the table above.
2. Phone the pharmacy that filled it if you get a match, and ask how to return it and what to use instead. Health Canada also tells patients they can contact the recalling company with questions ^10,11.
3. Talk to a professional before you stop. Both notices ask patients to consult a healthcare provider before discontinuing the product ^10,11, so ask how to bridge the gap before your next weekly dose.

These are the Dr. Reddy’s notices only. The Apotex recalls and the full record sit on our page listing all four generic semaglutide recalls.

What the shortage changed for drug plans

It slowed the push to move people off brand Ozempic. With one of the two marketed generics short, Alberta postponed the rule that would have made Ozempic users pay the difference ⁹.

Alberta’s paused Least Cost Alternative

Alberta added generic semaglutide to its public drug list on July 1, 2026, as interchangeable with Ozempic ¹². After a 30-day transition, the Least Cost Alternative policy was meant to kick in, so anyone choosing Ozempic would pay the gap ¹².

The Dr. Reddy’s shortage changed that. Alberta Blue Cross postponed Least Cost Alternative pricing and extended the transition until generic supply stabilizes ⁹.

A month later it moved on the private side only. From August 17, 2026, Alberta Blue Cross applied generic pricing to Ozempic claims on private plans that follow generic pricing, while keeping the rule suspended for government-sponsored programs ¹³.

Ontario and private insurers

Ontario’s drug plan pays $78.14 a pen for any product in an interchangeable group, brand Ozempic included ¹⁴. So in Ontario the plan’s payment stays the same whichever pen in the group is dispensed.

Private insurers set their own rules. Medavie Blue Cross, for one, makes members with mandatory generic substitution pay the difference to stay on Ozempic, but it accepts exception requests for adverse effects ¹⁵. Our generic semaglutide coverage guide has the province-by-province detail.

Switching from Dr. Reddy’s to Apo-Semaglutide

For most people the next pen is Apo-Semaglutide, because it is the only other generic Ozempic marketed in Canada ⁷. The 1 mg pens line up closely; the starter pens do not.

1 mg users

The Dr. Reddy’s and Apotex 1 mg pens both hold 1.34 mg/mL and dial 1 mg only ⁷. Ontario lists them in the same interchangeable group as Ozempic’s 1 mg pen ¹⁴. Each 4 mg pen holds four weekly doses, so your refill rhythm stays the same ^16,8.

Starter-pen users

Here the two products differ. The Dr. Reddy’s starter pen holds 1.34 mg/mL in 1.5 mL, while the Apotex starter pen holds 0.68 mg/mL in 3 mL ^8,16. Ontario groups the Dr. Reddy’s starter pen with Ozempic DIN 02471477 and the Apotex one with Ozempic DIN 02540258 ¹⁴.

That Ozempic DIN 02471477 has been dormant in Health Canada’s database since July 24, 2026 ⁷. So if you are on the Dr. Reddy’s starter pen, ask your pharmacist one thing. Can your prescription be filled with the Apotex pen as written, or do they need to call your prescriber?

Learning the new pen

You still dial your dose in milligrams. The Apotex starter pen pushes out twice the liquid for the same dose because its solution is half as strong ^16,8.

Both pens take needles up to 8 mm long, but each monograph names a different needle brand ^8,16. Use the needles that come in the new carton.

Ask for a two-minute demo at the counter. Our Apo-Semaglutide product page covers that pen in full, including its own two recalled lots.

Going back to brand Ozempic instead

Brand Ozempic is still marketed in Canada, in a 0.68 mg/mL starter pen and a 1 mg pen ⁷. If you pay cash or have private coverage outside Quebec, Novo Nordisk’s savings card is meant to bring the brand’s cost in line with generics ^17,18.

The card does not apply to claims paid by a public plan ¹⁹. Our Ozempic savings card explainer covers who qualifies and how it works at the counter.

Other makers relying on Dr. Reddy’s ingredient

Possibly Sandoz and Aspen, though no public document says so outright. Both hold labelling-only Health Canada approvals based on a licensing agreement between two manufacturers, and the records do not name the licensor ².

• Sandoz. Its approval on September 16, 2026 is a labelling-only licensing-agreement approval ². Sandoz called the product an “upcoming launch” and gave no date ²⁰.
• Aspen. Aspen-Semaglutide was approved on July 17, 2026, also under a licensing agreement ^2,21. A second Aspen semaglutide injection was approved on August 25, 2026, with no announcement ².

The clues point one way. On the July 22 call, the Dr. Reddy’s CEO said “the partner that got approval is using our products” and that the company can meet its commitment to Sandoz ⁶. Reuters reported that Aspen’s launch depends on Dr. Reddy’s ingredient ⁵, and trade press covered the knock-on effect for partners ²².

Our read: that is a strong hint, not proof. Neither Sandoz nor Aspen had a marketed product as of October 22, 2026 ⁷, so they are not a fallback while Dr. Reddy’s is paused.

Dr. Reddy’s semaglutide in India

Canada was not the company’s only market. Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide patent ran out in India on March 20, 2026, and at least five Indian drugmakers launched generics that weekend, Dr. Reddy’s among them ²³. It named Canada as a 2026 expansion target, and the same ingredient problem later stopped its Indian supply too ^23,5.

What to do if your pharmacy cannot get Dr. Reddy’s semaglutide

Do not wait out the shortage without a plan. A missed refill is easier to fix before your pen runs dry than after.

1. Ask about Apo-Semaglutide now. No other generic semaglutide for diabetes is marketed in Canada ⁷. If you are on the 1 mg pen, the two products match in strength.
2. Starter-pen users: check the prescription. Because the starter pens differ in strength, your pharmacist may need to confirm the change with your prescriber.
3. Check your plan. Ontario and Alberta list the generics as interchangeable with Ozempic, under the same coverage criteria ^14,12. If brand Ozempic is your fallback, ask what you would pay out of pocket.
4. Check any pens you have at home against the recalled lots above before you use them. If you think a pen caused a side effect, you can report it to Health Canada, as both recall notices point out ^10,11.
5. Compare cash prices if you pay yourself. The route finder just above this list shows pharmacy and online options for your province.

If you want to go back to Dr. Reddy’s later, ask your pharmacist to tell you when stock returns. Until the company or Health Canada confirms a restart, plan as if November could slip.