GLP-1 prescribing in the US may have reached a plateau, new data suggests.
Prescribing rates remained stable from June to September, according to an analysis of EHR data from researchers at Truveta — a platform that includes de-identified patient data from more than 900 hospitals to support medical research advancements.
In June, the overall prescribing rate for GLP-1s was 6.22%. By September, that figure was 6.5%, marking a 4.6% increase. The findings were published Oct. 14 in the preprint server medRxiv.
Four notes:
- More than 2.4 million patients were prescribed a GLP-1 between 2018 and September 2025, researchers found. This is based on a subset of deidentified data from more than 120 million patients.
- Semaglutide — the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy — was the most commonly prescribed first-time medication across the study period. However, as of September, tirzepatide — the active ingredient in Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zebound —is the most commonly prescribed GLP-1.
- In June, more than 72% of individuals with a first-time prescription for an anti-diabetic medication filled their prescription within 60 days, compared to about 47% of patients prescribed an anti-obesity medication. The findings align with another recent study that found about 40% of GLP-1 prescriptions went unfilled between 2018 and 2022, with patients pointing to affordability and insurance issues. That study also showed patients with obesity alone had lower fill rates relative to those with diabetes alone.
- A growing body of research suggests that GLP-1s’ high costs and insurance gaps remain key barriers to access, despite the drugs continuing to earn expanded approvals for conditions beyond obesity and diabetes.
