Physicians are increasingly comfortable prescribing weight loss drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound as new potential uses emerge, but cost and access challenges remain persistent hurdles.
Six updates on weight loss drugs:
1. Eli Lilly is now selling single-dose vials of Zepbound for about half of its usual monthly list price through its direct-to-consumer platform LillyDirect. The drugmaker is offering a four-week supply of 2.5-milligram vials for $399 and 5-milligram single-dose vials for $549. In comparison, the list prices for GLP-1 weight loss drugs are typically about $1,000 a month.
2. Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen defended the cost of Wegovy this week, arguing it will lower obesity care costs for patients and employers, NBC Nightly News reported Aug. 25. Last year, obesity care costs totalled more than $400 billion. Mr. Jørgensen told the outlet that employers and patients may see lower medical costs, disability payments, workers' compensation and absenteeism as people lose weight on the medications. He also noted that more than 80% of insured Americans pay $25 or less for a month's supply.
3. Recent studies have highlighted significant economic and racial disparities in access to GLP-1 weight loss drugs, The Washington Post reported Aug. 19. Lower-income and Black and Hispanic populations have higher rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes but face significant barriers due to high costs and limited insurance coverage, according to the report.
4. GLP-1s may reduce mortality and severe cardiovascular complications in patients with obesity, according to a study published Aug. 22 in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.
5. GLP-1s may also help improve medication adherence rates among heart patients, Jeffrey Wessler, MD, a cardiologist at New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health, told Becker's.
"In my view, and I think where the evidence is bringing us, is that what started as a medication for diabetics and weight loss is quickly becoming probably one of the best cardiac medications that exists," he said. "That's for a fairly simple reason, which is that it may be the first medication that patients actually want to take because it has this amazing side effect of losing weight."
6. Some physicians are growing more comfortable prescribing compounded versions of Wegovy and Zepbound amid shortages of the brand-name versions, according to anecdotal reports shared with NBC News. Though the FDA permits licensed compounding pharmacies to produce medications during shortages, some physicians remain skeptical, citing concerns that the agency does not regulate or test the active ingredients used by these pharmacies.