Enthusiasm is worth it. These new drugs provide greater and more lasting weight loss than anything that came before them, and there are many people who could benefit from them. People eligible for obesity drugs were taking one.
However, these lofty sales targets will only be achieved if the medical sector is able to overcome structural barriers to its use.
New drugs are usually weekly injections that mimic gut hormones that regulate satiety. This approach appears to solve problems in the field of safety and efficacy. Data from Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, which was approved in June 2021, and Eli Lilly & Co.’s Mounjaro, which is expected to be approved next year, show that these drugs can reduce weight by an average of 15-20% of body weight. suggests that it helps There is only a snippet of data on Amgen’s early-stage weight loss drug, AMG 133, but it has already attracted strong interest from investors based on hopes that it could result in similar or even higher weight loss than Munjaro. increase. moon shot. Amgen said this week that people taking high doses of the drug lost an average of about 14.5% of their body weight after about three months of the Phase 1 trial. It will be disclosed at the conference.
Such results indicate that the new drug is two to three times more effective than traditional diet pills and ranges from unpleasant (leaking stools) to very dangerous (increased risk of heart attack and cancer). I’ve had various side effects.
People want to try new treatments. At a conference on obesity last week, experts in the field exchanged stories of long wait times for new patients seeking appointments with weight loss experts. These are on the register, said Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity physician at the hospital.
“Demand is overwhelming the workforce,” says Robert Kushner, an obesity medicine specialist at Northwestern Medicine.
Pharmaceutical companies are also struggling to keep up with demand. Lily is struggling to maintain supplies of Munjaro, even though it’s currently only approved for diabetes. List believes it has the potential to become one of the best-selling drugs in the history of the industry. Due to, and later due to manufacturing problems, there was a constant shortage of supply.
Novo expects supply constraints to be resolved by the end of the year and is in a position to finally provide some answers to key market questions. For one thing, the magnitude of demand may become clearer. It’s getting complicated now because people are turning to diabetes treatments that use the same ingredients as weight loss drugs. It should be easier to measure whether
All of this enthusiasm, however, is premised on the resolution of some fundamental challenges in the field that may hinder the widespread use of these weight-loss drugs.
One big problem? Family doctors are reluctant to prescribe medications. One problem is that today’s doctors are typically not trained to deal with obesity. Some doctors still take the outdated view that the disease is just a lifestyle rather than a medical problem. Until that group is more comfortable using these treatments, “I fear all these advances will be shelved,” said Novo, his Nordisk consultant, Kushner, who led Wegovy’s Phase 3 trial, said:
Affordability is also a big issue. Wegovy launched at a price of over $1,600 per month, but with spotty insurance coverage. A patchwork of laws governs access to weight loss drugs across the country, making them more affordable in some states than others. Although she will cover the cost of the medication, Stanford said it remains difficult to get her patients’ medication covered by Medicaid. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania is close to passing a bill that would allow the state to cover medical costs for Medicaid recipients after years of stumbling blocks. Also, Medicare is now completely excluding coverage for obesity drugs.
Also worth considering. The story about the long-term safety of this new generation of drugs is still being written. That concern stems from the lack of evidence about the drug’s efficacy or safety, meaning that it may be used in people who are not medically considered obese but want to lose weight. It gets worse.
The demand for treatment is unquestionable. But achieving that, and consequently hitting the upper end of these lofty sales projections, will require structural changes in how these medicines are prescribed and covered.
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This column does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Lisa Jarvis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the biotechnology, healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. Previously, she was Editor-in-Chief of Chemical & Engineering News.
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