A recent survey in the United States has found that injected weight loss drugs are still preferred by physicians over newer oral treatments – by a significant margin – with Eli Lilly’s Zepbound topping the charts, reports Fierce Pharma.
According to healthcare specialists Spherix Global Insights, the poll, with input from 185 American specialists, showed that 80% were highly satisfied with Zepbound, compared with 59% for Novo Nordisk’s rival injectable, Wegovy.
Though it remains early in the launches of Novo’s oral version of Wegovy and Lilly’s GLP-1 pill Foundayo, 48% and 47% of those surveyed were highly satisfied with the newer products, respectively.
In the survey, Spherix asked respondents to indicate their level of satisfaction on a 1-10 scale with each of the four therapies. Scores of 8-10 were considered highly satisfied. Scores of 1-3 and 4-7 were categorised respectively as low satisfaction and neutral.
Zepbound’s average rating from the respondents was 8.5, followed by injected Wegovy (7.5), oral Wegovy (7.4) and Foundayo (7.2).
The survey included the opinions of primary care physicians (54), gastroenterologists (37), endocrinologists (33) and bariatric surgeons (28), as well as nurse practitioners and physician assistants (33).
Spherix also found that discontinuation with the treatments remains “substantial, creating opportunities for strategies for treatments that can improve resistance”. Those surveyed flagged an overall 25% discontinuation rate within 12 months of starting GLP-1 treatment among patients they see.
Survey participants were also asked about the top three reasons their patients discontinued treatment. Overwhelmingly, the top two answers were cost/lack of insurance coverage (74%), and gastrointestinal side effects like nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea (72%).
The next most common reasons for discontinuations were insufficient weight loss (38%), weight-loss plateau (24%), achievement of weight-loss goal (21%) and gastroparesis (18%).
Respondents were also asked to rate each of the four treatments on 13 specific attributes using a 1-10 scale. The results produced an overall brand performance score led by Zepbound at 8.4, followed by injected Wegovy (7.6), Wegovy pill (7.0) and Foundayo (6.6).
Of the 13 categories, Zepbound had the highest rating in seven, including degree of weight loss provided (8.5), gastrointestinal tolerability (6.8), speed to reach meaningful weight loss (8.1) and sustainability of weight loss (7.7).
The only bottom rating for Zepbound was in its out-of-pocket cost to patients. Its 4.7 average rating was the lowest for any of the four drugs in any of the 13 categories.
Injected Wegovy got the highest rating (8.0) in cardiovascular outcomes evidence and ease of access (6.1), but the lowest average rating in gastrointestinal tolerability (6.3), route of administration (6.6) and tolerability of administration (7.0).
Among the four treatments, Wegovy pill scored the highest in out-of-pocket cost to patients (5.1), route of administration (8.4) and tolerability of administration (7.6). It received the lowest average score, however, for administration requirements (6.2), as it must be taken in the morning on an empty stomach, followed by another 30 minutes of fasting.
Foundayo had the lowest score in eight of 13 attributes, including degree of weight loss (6.7), ease of access (5.4), speed to reach meaningful weight loss (6.4) and sustained weight loss (6.7), though again, the short time that Lilly’s pill has been on the market makes it more difficult to assess.
As for the battle among the two weight loss pills, Spherix sees Novo in the lead, backing prescription data collected this year by global healthcare data company IQVIA.
Source: JUTA Medical Brief
Zepbound injectable remains doctors’ favourite, despite oral options