Recent Use Of Weight Loss Drugs - Exploring Patient Claims Data

PURPOSE: A recent ACSM webinar focused on Exercise and Obesity Medications. These medications offer a real health opportunity. However, there is little understanding of patient histories and physician prescribing patterns. This study evaluates recent prescription patterns and patient histories of two specific Semaglutide and Tirzepatide medications. METHODS: A large (60 million) commercial claims database (primarily representing employer-based health plan patients and their families) and associated analysis tool were used. Patients were included in analysis if they had a prescription for one of four specific medications (Semaglutides - Ozempic (O) (for T2 diabetes), Wegovy (W) (for obesity) and Tirzepatides - Mounjaro (M) (for T2 diabetes), Zepbound (Z) (for obesity) from January 1, 2024 forward. (More data becomes available post-abstract deadline). The counts of patients who had a filled prescription for each of these drugs who also had a ICD-10 DX of T2 diabetes, obesity / overweight and / or related co-morbidities up to 45 days pre-RX fill were calculated. RESULTS: 133,975 (O), 63,874 (W), 94,773 (M) and 22,264 (Z) patients were identified w filled prescriptions between January and April 2024 and at least 45 days of continuous enrollment pre-RX.. 45% O patients had T2 diabetes DX 45 days pre-RX, 7% had obesity DX and 2% had obesity DX w no diabetes history. 16% W patients had obesity DX 45 days pre-RX, 2% had diabetes DX and < 1% had diabetes DX w no obesity history. 49% M patients had T2 diabetes DX 45 days pre-RX, 9% had obesity DX and 2 % had obesity DX w no diabetes history. 23% W patients had obesity DX 45 days pre-RX, 2% had diabetes DX and < 1% had diabetes DX w no obesity history. 80% of W and Z RX were for females. T2 diabetes drug O had a larger absolute patient RX count than M and obesity drug W had a larger absolute patient RX count than Z over the analysis window; probably due to longer in-market presence. CONCLUSIONS: While the majority of patients for each RX had a pre-RX DX of the labeled purpose, a small percentage of patients appear to be filling RX for a possible off-label DX, especially W and Z. Within the limitations of working with claims data, this analysis has illuminated prescribing distributions and pre-RX patient histories for four popular weight loss drugs.