Oral Wegovy Brings in Thousands of New GLP-1 Patients

 

The oral version of Wegovy has made GLP-1 medicines more accessible and acceptable to many patients who had steered clear of injectable versions, healthcare analytics firm Truveta suggests.

More than a third of patients on Novo Nordisk’s oral Wegovy have never taken GLP-1 medications before, suggesting that making weight-loss medicines available in pill form could make treatment more acceptable and accessible to more people.

These data come from a Wednesday report by health analytics firm Truveta, which looked at the records of 8,762 patients who had filled a prescription for oral Wegovy in the six weeks since its December approval. Of these, 36.1% of patients had never taken GLP-1 medication before, indicating that a large percentage of early adopters were new to the drug class, the firm said.

Meanwhile, 21.1% had transitioned to Wegovy pill from an injectable version, while 15.8% had switched from Eli Lilly’s injectable Zepbound.

These findings highlight “the potential for oral formulations to expand access beyond patients already receiving injectable therapies,” according to the report. The volume of patients switching from injectable therapies, it adds, “suggests patient or clinician preference for oral administration.”

The Truveta report comes as Novo touts the strength of Wegovy pill sales, with CEO Maziar Mike Doustdar last week calling its initial rollout “the best launch.” Data from health information firm IQVIA showed that by Jan. 9, oral Wegovy had already reached 3,100 scripts since being formally launched Jan. 5.

“We have gone all in,” Doustdar said during an investor call last week. “We have really put in all the activities and the promotions that they could think of.”

While Novo has beaten its chief obesity rival Eli Lilly in bringing a GLP-1 pill to the market, Lilly continues to project optimism. In its investor call last week, Executive VP of Lilly Cardiometabolic Health Ken Custer said that the company is “very encouraged” by Wegovy’s success, noting that the success of the weight-loss pill points to how big the market is. Lilly’s orforglipron is undergoing FDA review and a decision could come as early as the second quarter.

Wegovy’s success “validates our belief that there’s a substantial number of people with overweight and obesity who’ve been sitting on the sidelines waiting for an oral option,” Custer said. “It looks like these are mostly new starts. That means it’s expanding the market, and that’s good news for Lilly.”

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