Prescription fills for semaglutide dramatically increase from 2021 to 2023
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Key takeaways:
- The number of monthly prescription fills for semaglutide increased from 471,876 in 2021 to 2,555,308 in 2023.
- Commercial insurance paid for 89.5% of Wegovy fills in 2023.
The number of monthly prescription fills for semaglutide increased by 442% from 2021 to 2023, according to a research letter published in JAMA Health Forum.
“The number of prescriptions filled for semaglutide has increased substantially, reaching 2.6 million prescriptions filled at retail pharmacies by December 2023,” Dima M. Qato, PharmD, MPH, PhD, the Hygeia Centennial Chair and associate professor in the Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy and senior fellow in the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics at University of Southern California, and colleagues wrote. “While Ozempic persistently accounted for most semaglutide fills, increases were considerably greater for Wegovy since its approval for weight loss in June 2021. These increases, which primarily occurred following increased awareness of weight-loss benefits in late 2022, are likely contributing to the FDA-reported shortage of Ozempic and Wegovy first issued in March 2022.”
Researchers collected monthly prescription fills of semaglutide (Rybelsus/Ozempic/Wegovy, Novo Nordisk) from the IQVIA National Prescription Audit PayerTrak from 2021 to 2023. The database includes 92% of prescription fills at retail pharmacies in the U.S. Fills were categorized by drug brand as Rybelsus, Ozempic or Wegovy, and by payment method as commercial insurance, Medicaid, Medicare Part D or cash.
The number of semaglutide fills increased from 471,876 in 2021 to 2,555,308 in 2023. More than 70% of fills during the study were for Ozempic. Ozempic fills increased by 392% from 2021 to 2023, peaking in August 2023 at 1,968,892 fills. Fills of Wegovy increased by 1,361% from 2021 to 2023, with the largest increases starting in January 2023. Fills for Wegovy peaked in May 2023 at 519,510 fills.
In 2023, 61.4% of Ozempic fills, 89.5% of Wegovy fills and 58.1% of Rybelsus fills were paid for through commercial insurance. Medicare Part D paid for 28.5% of Ozempic fills, 32.9% of Rybelsus fills and 1.2% of Wegovy fills. Medicaid paid for 9.7% of Ozempic fills, 8.2% of Wegovy fills and 8.7% of Rybelsus fills in 2023.
“Future research should examine how changes in Medicare Part D and Medicaid coverage restrictions influence disparities in access to these essential medications,” the researchers wrote.
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