In the Real World, People Do Not Stick With GLP-1s for Weight Loss | AMCP Nexus 2024

There is almost always a gap between how participants in a clinical trial behave and what happens in the real world.

But that gap is especially wide when it comes to the glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) drugs such as semaglutide (sold as Wegovy for weight loss) and tirzepatide (sold as Zepbound for weight loss), according to Ben Urick, Pharm.D., Ph.D., a senior principal health outcomes researcher at Prime Therapeutics, a pharmacy benefit management company headquartered in the suburban Twin Cities in Minnesota.

In interview with Managed Healthcare Executive, Urick said Prime’s real-world evidence shows that only 15% of the members who started a GLP-1 for weight loss in 2021 were “persistent” with the drug and still taking it two years later. That low proportion is in sharp contrast with the 85% persistent rate seen in clinical trials, he said.

Urick said clinical trial participants are taking the GLP-1s for sustained weight loss that research is now showing has cardiovascular and other health benefits.

“If you think of how these drugs are actually use in practice, a lot times people are trying to use them to drop, let’s say, 10 to 15 pounds before a wedding or something like that,” Urick said. Once they hit the target, people stop using them, he said.