According to analysis of medical records and insurance claims data in the United States, 40% of patients who took the Novo Nordisk weight loss medication Wegovy between 2021 and 2022 continued to take the medication one year later, which is more than three times the proportion of regular weight loss medication.
Specifically, researchers reported in the journal Obesity on Wednesday that, as a comparison, between 2015 and 2022, only 13% of patients continued to take the weight loss drug Contrave from Orexigen Therapeutics one year later; However, only 10% of patients from Vivus are willing to continue taking the compound weight loss drug Qsymia a year later.
This indicates that patients have a higher adherence to Wegovy medication, that is, the degree to which patients use medication on time, in the appropriate amount, and according to requirements as advised by doctors or healthcare professionals. High compliance means that patients are more likely to continue using medication, which helps maintain drug efficacy and ultimately achieve treatment goals. Of course, it also demonstrates the effectiveness and huge demand of Wegovy.
The above research results are based on data from 1911 adults, of which 25% took Wegovy. Novo Nordisk previously stated that a trial by Wegovy showed that the drug not only helps people lose weight, but also reduces the risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular disease death by 20%.
Overall, 75% of the participants are female, 76% are white, 16% are black, and 4.5% are Hispanic. Most of them have private insurance.
Researchers have found that individuals who achieve better weight loss results over a period of six months are also more likely to persist after one year. But the study did not specify why patients stopped taking medication.
However, there are differences in compliance rates among private insurance participants, which may be affected by insurance coverage restrictions, as the prices of these drugs are not cheap.
According to the same study released by drug supplier Prime Therapeutics in July, approximately one-third of the 4255 patients who started taking Wegovy in 2021 are still taking the drug one year later.
Novo Nordisk's Wegovy is priced at $1349 per month, while its competitor, Lilly's Zepbound, which was launched in US pharmacies this week, is priced at $1059.87 per month. However, most patients pay much lower prices, especially if they have commercial insurance covering the relevant drugs.
Dr. Hamlet Gasoyan, the research leader of the Cleveland Clinic, said, "The high cost and persistence of new weight loss drugs are increasingly a concern, which may affect the decisions of third-party payment institutions."
Gasoyan added that they conducted this study to better understand the use of weight loss drugs in clinical practice and the barriers to continued use.
Overall, studies have shown that Wegovy has a significantly higher compliance rate compared to old-fashioned weight loss drugs, and factors such as weight loss effectiveness, insurance coverage, and medication costs play a role in the sustained use of these drugs by patients.