In the last three months of 2022, physicians signed more than 9 million prescriptions for obesity drug Saxenda and two diabetes medications, Ozempic and Mounjaro, according to a report by Trilliant Health, a data analytics company.
The three drugs are glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists, a drug class that has seen high demand after popularity trickled from celebrities to the masses on social media clamoring for weight-loss results. In October, #Ozempicweightloss saw more than 85 million views and #ozempic has been seen 227 million times on TikTok. The drug is approved only for Type 2 diabetes, but physicians can prescribe the medication for off-label use, such as weight management.
Since its approval in late 2017, Ozempic accounts for 65.4 percent of the GLP-1 market, according to Trilliant Health.
Between the first quarter of 2020 and the end of 2022, prescription volumes for GLP-1 medications increased 300 percent, according to the analysis; that figure exceeds the rate of diabetes prevalence. A slight majority, or 53.8 percent, of patients with GLP-1 prescriptions have a history of diabetes, the report found.