A pharmacist displays boxes of Ozempic, a semaglutide injection drug used for treating type 2 diabetes made by Novo Nordisk, at Rock Canyon Pharmacy in Provo, Utah, U.S. March 29, 2023.
George Frey | Reuters
According to a new analysis released Wednesday by Trilliant Health, U.S. health care providers have written over nine million prescriptions for Ozempic, Wegovy, and similar drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity in the last quarter of 2022.
The report reveals a 300% increase in quarterly prescriptions for these drugs between early 2020 and the end of last year.
Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, a weekly diabetes injection, accounted for more than 65% of total prescriptions as of the end of 2022. It was primarily prescribed off-label for its weight loss benefits.
This data confirms the growing demand for these drugs, which have generated significant interest among Americans and on Wall Street due to their ability to promote weight loss. GLP-1s, the category of drugs to which they belong, mimic a gut hormone to suppress appetite.
However, the future volume of prescriptions will depend on factors such as resolving widespread supply shortages that affect Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly’s drugs, among others, as stated in the report.
Trilliant Health based its analysis on insurance claims data for approximately 300 million Americans. Besides Ozempic and Wegovy, other prescribed drugs include Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and Novo Nordisk’s Saxenda, although the latter is less effective for weight loss compared to Ozempic and Wegovy.
It’s important to note that the total number of GLP-1 prescriptions may be underestimated, as some health plans do not cover weight loss treatments like Wegovy, leaving patients to bear the costs themselves. Wealthy individuals, such as Hollywood celebrities and tech mogul Elon Musk, have the financial means to pay for these drugs independently.
Ozempic’s list price is over $935 per monthly package, while Wegovy costs around $1,300. These drugs are intended for long-term use, similar to cholesterol-lowering medications and blood pressure drugs.
Other pharmaceutical companies are also trying to capitalize on the growing weight loss market, with analysts predicting that Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro has the potential to surpass Novo Nordisk’s drugs once it receives approval for weight loss in the U.S.
According to the National Institutes of Health, more than two in five adults in the United States have obesity, and approximately one in eleven adults have severe obesity.
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