Wegovy linked to real-world medical cost savings for people with obesity, heart failure
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Key takeaways:
- Wegovy was linked to lower year-to-year health care costs among patients with overweight or obesity and heart failure.
- Real-world cost savings were observed across inpatient, outpatient and ED settings.
SAN ANTONIO — Semaglutide 2.4 mg was associated with reduced year-over-year health care costs, up to $6,500, among patients with overweight or obesity and heart failure, a speaker reported.
At ObesityWeek, Wojciech Michalak, MSc, data scientist in health economics and outcomes research at Novo Nordisk, presented the results of a cost analysis of the use of semaglutide 2.4 mg (Wegovy, Novo Nordisk) among patients with overweight or obesity plus HF enrolled in a large health care database.
“Obesity has surged as a significant public health challenge and economic burden in the United States. It’s also a major risk factor for the development of heart failure,” Michalak said during the presentation. “A recent post hoc analysis of clinical trials indicated that treatment with semaglutide 2.4 mg in patients with atherosclerotic CVD and overweight or obesity reduced the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events and composite heart failure endpoints. These findings suggest that semaglutide 2.4 mg is a promising treatment for patients with obesity and heart failure. However, the real-world economic implications of this therapy remain unknown.”
For the present real-world study, Michalak and colleagues evaluated change in all-cause total medical costs from the years before initiation of semaglutide 2.4 mg to the year after drug initiation using data from the Komodo Health Research database. The analysis included 1,267 individuals with HF and BMI of 25 kg/m2 or more (mean age, 54 years; 60% women; 49% white; mean BMI, 37.3 kg/m2).
At baseline, 78% of patients had hypertension, 25% had diabetes, 38% had HF with preserved ejection fraction, 67% had dyslipidemia and 57% had obstructive sleep apnea. Overall, 72% of the cohort had commercial insurance, whereas 15% were on Medicaid and 13% were on Medicare.
During the 1-year follow-up period after semaglutide initiation, the mean number of prescription fills was five.
Semaglutide initiation was associated with a mean total medical cost reduction of $6,512 during the 1-year follow-up compared with baseline ($29,561 vs. $23,049; mean difference, 22%; P = .001). Reductions were observed across health care settings, including inpatient (mean reduction, $3,368), outpatient ($2,691) and ED settings ($454), according to the presentation.
“We have to remember that these results might not be generalizable to the broader population with heart failure, as patients initiating treatment with semaglutide 2.4 mg tend to be younger than those with heart failure in the general population,” Michalak said during the presentation.
Cost lowering was similar yet slightly less — but still significant — when a sensitivity analysis excluded 36 participants with a HF hospitalization at baseline.
“Initiation of treatment with semaglutide 2.4 among patients with overweight or obesity and heart failure was associated with a significant year-to-year reduction in total medical costs ... and reductions in inpatient, outpatient and emergency department costs,” Michalak said during the presentation. “The results remained consistent in the sensitivity analysis that excluded patients with a baseline heart failure hospitalization.”
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Michalak W. Oral-112. Presented at: ObesityWeek; Nov. 3-6, 2024; San Antonio.
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