A Staggering Number of U.S. Adults Are Eligible for Ozempic, Study Finds

Some of the astir fashionable drugs contiguous mightiness inactive beryllium underused. A survey released this week has recovered that a bulk of American adults are eligible to instrumentality semaglutide, the progressive constituent successful the medications Wegovy and Ozempic.

Scientists astatine Harvard and elsewhere conducted the study, trying to quantify the imaginable scope of these already best-selling blockbuster drugs. Based connected nationally typical survey data, they estimated that 136.8 cardinal Americans presently conscionable the criteria for semaglutide therapy, oregon much than fractional of the full U.S. big population. While astir eligible users would instrumentality semaglutide for their obesity, astir 30 cardinal Americans would chiefly payment from taking it to negociate their benignant 2 diabetes oregon trim their hazard of cardiovascular disease—three conditions that lend to premature decease and healthcare costs.

“The ample fig of U.S. adults eligible for semaglutide highlights its imaginable interaction connected pharmaceutical spending and colonisation health,” the researchers wrote successful their paper, published Monday successful JAMA Cardiology.

Semaglutide and akin GLP-1 drugs have proven to beryllium acold much effectual astatine helping radical suffer value than fare and workout alone. Though these medications person their side-effects and aren’t effectual for everyone, probe has continued to validate their benefits successful treating not lone obesity but perchance different conditions similar substance usage disorders.

Unfortunately, GLP-1 drugs aren’t cheap. The mean database terms of Wegovy (the lone semaglutide-based cause presently approved for obesity) is astir $1,300 a month, portion Ozempic (approved for diabetes but sometimes prescribed off-label for value loss) is astir $1,000 monthly. Many insurers, nationalist and private, besides bash not supply sum for these drugs, astatine slightest partially owed to these precocious prices. The request and outgo of GLP-1 therapy has helped thrust the emergence of a grey and achromatic marketplace for it, with radical often turning to cheaper compounded oregon counterfeit versions that may not beryllium safe arsenic the genuine article.

Survey data suggests that astir 12% of Americans person been prescribed GLP-1 drugs recently, portion 6% are presently connected them. It’s a popularity that has helped Novo Nordisk—makers of Wegovy and Ozempic—make implicit $50 cardinal this twelvemonth alone. But this fig is inactive acold from the tally of eligible users estimated by the JAMA researchers. The researchers enactment that galore caller users study having occupation paying for their drugs, adjacent erstwhile their security does screen it. High prices besides impact nationalist payers similar Medicare, which tin pb to restrictive criteria for diligent eligibility (Medicare technically can’t wage for obesity medications successful general, but tin screen GLP-1s if they’re prescribed for conditions similar diabetes oregon bosom disease).

“[S]ince much than fractional of US adults who person taken GLP-1 receptor agonists authorities the therapy was hard to afford, interventions to trim economical barriers to entree are urgently needed,” the JAMA researchers wrote.

There are undoubtedly galore eligible Americans who wouldn’t needfully payment from taking semaglutide oregon who simply wouldn’t privation to instrumentality it adjacent if outgo was nary issue. But the ample spread betwixt the existent and imaginable fig of GLP-1 users suggests that there’s a batch of missed accidental for improving people’s health. A survey published this past October, for instance, estimated that higher uptake of GLP-1 drugs could forestall 42,000 deaths annually successful the U.S. from obesity- oregon diabetes-related wellness problems.

Prominent lawmakers similar Vermont legislator Bernie Sanders have argued that immoderate efforts to amended people’s entree to these drugs should see reducing their costs. “As important arsenic these drugs are, they volition not bash immoderate bully for the millions of patients who cannot spend them,” helium wrote successful a missive to Novo Nordisk earlier this April.