At the end of 2023, more than one-third of new prescriptions to treat Type 2 diabetes were GLP-1s, such as Mounjaro and Ozempic, among others, according to a study published April 15 in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Researchers at Mass General Brigham, based in Somerville, Mass., reviewed claims data from January 2021 to December 2023 to evaluate utilization trends among diabetes medications.
The drugs included glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (Ozempic), glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptors (Mounjaro), glucose-lowering medications (metformin and insulin) and weight-lowering medications (phentermine).
Over those three years, use of Mounjaro, Ozempic and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors increased among adults with Type 2 diabetes. Use of other glucose-lowering drugs, including metformin, rapidly declined.
In January 2021, 13% of diabetes patients started GLP-1 medications, and by December 2023, that rate increased to 35%. The most commonly started glucose-lowering medicine in January 2021 was metformin, with a 30% start rate, which declined to 19% by late 2023.
John Ostrominski, MD, the study’s lead author and a fellow in cardiovascular medicine and obesity medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said the findings affect patients, clinicians, researchers and policymakers.
“The rapidly expanding uptake of tirzepatide … underscores the need for clinicians to become more familiar with their use, for researchers to improve understanding of their long-term effects, and for health policy that promotes sustained access and affordability,” Dr. Ostrominski said in an April 15 news release from Mass General Brigham.
