STAT+: Pharmalittle: Nearly half of U.S. adults would spend $100 a month for weight loss drugs; Pfizer scraps an obesity pill
Almost half of Americans would be willing to spend up to $100 a month for new weight loss medicines such as Wegovy.
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Almost half of Americans would be willing to spend up to $100 a month for new weight loss medicines such as Wegovy, and one-third say they would indefinitely pay whatever they can afford to get the drugs, according to a new survey by STAT and The Harris Poll. Although 47% say they would only spend the money up to a point — such as losing a certain amount of weight, or up until a special event — demand is so great that nearly one-quarter said they would pay up to $250 each month. And another 17% percent are willing to shell out as much as $500 each month. The survey, which polled 2,046 U.S. adults, was conducted earlier this month.
An experimental pill from Eli Lilly led to 14.7% weight loss on the highest dose in a 36-week trial, heating up the growing competition among drugmakers to develop an effective oral obesity therapy, STAT writes. Orforglipron, taken daily, is a GLP-1 drug, a type of medication that mimics the effects of the glucagon-like peptide 1 hormone that helps people feel full after eating. This class of drugs has exploded in popularity, with the injectable GLP-1s Wegovy and Mounjaro showing up to 15% and 21% weight loss in trials, respectively. If pills can ultimately prove to work as well, they could be more accessible and more attractive to many patients for their convenience.
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