How long do people stay on Ozempic? Most stop after 2 years, analysis shows.

Only 1 in 4 US patients prescribed Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy or Ozempic for weight loss are still taking it; Use has steadily declined over time, according to an analysis of US pharmacies provided by Reuters.

The analysis did not include detailed information about why patients quit. But it provides a longer-term view of the real-world experiences of patients taking the drug than previous research that studied use over a year or more.

Evidence suggests that many people may stop using weight-loss therapies shortly after they start. It is influencing the debate over their cost to employers and government health programs.

Wegovy and similar drugs, which belong to a class of drugs called GLP-1 receptor agonists, can cost more than $1,000 a month and require extended use to achieve meaningful benefits.

President Joe Biden and other administration officials have recently come under fire for their U.S. prices, saying the drugs could cost the country $411 billion a year if only half of obese adults use them. That’s $5 billion more than all the drugs Americans will spend in 2022.

“GLP-1s are not cost-effective for everyone,” said Dr. Rekha Kumar, an obesity expert at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center and chief medical officer at Found. “People want to provide obesity care to their employees, but they want to do it in a way that will bankrupt them.

Prime Therapeutics and Magellan Rx Management, a pharmacy benefit manager, reviewed pharmacy and medical claims data for 3,364 people with commercial health plans that covered GLP-1 drugs. All had received new prescriptions between January and December 2021 and had symptoms of obesity or a body mass index of 30 or higher.

A PBM excludes patients who use drugs for type 2 diabetes and those drugs were originally developed. The mean age of patients included in the analysis was 46.5, and 81% were women.

Last year, Prime announced that it found that 32% of patients were still taking a GLP-1 drug for weight loss 12 months after their initial prescription. For all drugs included in the study, only about 15% were still using the drug after two years, the new data show.

For Wegovy, 24.1% of patients continued therapy for two years without a gap of 60 days or more, down from 36% who stayed on the drug for a full year. Wegovy: With Ozempic, which has the same active ingredient as semaglutide, 22.2% of patients continued to fill their prescriptions, compared to 47.1% who took it at one year.

Older GLP-1 drugs are worse. After two years, only 7.4% of patients were still taking Novo’s Saxenda, a less effective weight-loss drug like Wegovy or Eli Lilly’s Zepbound.

45% of patients in the analysis were taking Ozempic or Wegovy. Others include liraglutide; Rybelsus, I am taking Saxenda or Victoza, both semaglutide or Lilly’s Trulicity (dulaglutide).

In the analysis, 26% of patients changed GLP-1 medications during treatment, which may reflect lapses or changes in insurance coverage, according to co-author Dr. Patrick Gleason, assistant vice president for health outcomes at Prime/MRx. Analysis.

Both Novo and Lilly were unable to keep up with the unprecedented demand for new drugs.

‘No one knows’

Novo Nordisk cited several limitations to the analysis. Wegovy is in the middle of the study period. He noted that it does not begin until June 2021 and is not immediately covered by insurance. Additionally, Ozempic is not approved for weight loss, which could affect patient coverage and adherence to therapy, the Danish drugmaker said.

The company said, “We do not believe these data are sufficient to draw conclusions about overall patient compliance and adherence to GLP-1 medications, including our treatments.”

In clinical trials, the newer GLP-1s helped people lose more than 15% of their body weight by reducing appetite and promoting feelings of fullness. They are being tested for many other health benefits that may improve insurance coverage.

Wegovy won US approval in March to reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack in overweight and obese people.

The analysis did not track long-term use of Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound, which were started after the start of the study. Eli Lilly declined to comment on all of the findings.

Prime/MRx does not ask patients why their prescriptions stopped. Nausea and vomiting, which Gleason says are not covered by insurance and supply shortages; Side effects, such as out-of-pocket costs, are likely to be mixed, Gleason said.

Doctors say some patients may decide to stop taking the drug after losing weight. Other studies have shown that patients who stop their GLP-1 medications usually regain most of their weight.

“No one knows how long these drugs should last,” said Dr. Walid Gellad, a professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.

Kumar said some clinics and telehealth services do not screen patients properly or provide adequate nutrition and exercise along with medication, or have poor results and abandon patients.

Prime/MRx is owned by 19 US Blue Cross and Blue Shield health insurance plans and manages pharmacy benefits for approximately 38 million people.

Dr. David Lassen, the PBM’s chief medical officer, called the two consecutive years of declines therapeutic.

“It didn’t improve, but it got a little worse,” he said. “It’s really about the sustainability of weight loss to get long-term results.”