GLP-1s Are Flooding the Market–What Does That Mean for Costs?

These days, many of the most frequently asked questions that we receive focus on GLP-1 medications––the popular and highly effective weight loss drugs you’ve been hearing about in the news. GLP-1s are a type of incretin mimetic, medications that affect gut hormones and cause weight loss.

Beyond their effectiveness, price point is a widespread concern for stakeholders throughout the healthcare industry, as well as for chronic disease patients who might hope to use them. Ozempic®, for example, costs an estimated $10,000 a year per person, placing significant financial strain on payers as demand grows.

Michael Thompson, chief executive of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, told the Wall Street Journal that the “huge cost burden on health plans” is a key issue empowers are wrestling with amid surging demand for GLP-1s. In fact, the University of Texas System has seen costs for GLP-1s more than triple to about $5 million a month. Now, it’s ending coverage for Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Saxenda for its employees and others covered by its health plans, citing the “current rate of prescription drug expenditures” in a university benefits newsletter.

However, cost concerns aren’t slowing down the GLP-1 market, which is expected to reach $55.8 billion by 2023. While brands like Ozempic©, Wegovy©, Mounjaro©, and Trulicity© are currently ruling the space, only Wegovy has FDA approval for weight loss; pharmaceutical companies are scrambling to get more weight loss drugs approved by the FDA and put more GLP-1s on the market.  Will more supply to meet growing demand for these medications bring prices down? And just how many GLP-1s are there? 

We broke down the list of GLP-1s by FDA approval stage, and spoke with Chang about what more GLP-1s could mean for costs. 

*Note: This list is based on Omada internal research completed in July 2023, and may quickly become out of date. Our list comprises different types of incretin mimetics, but we’ll refer to “GLP-1s” in the headers.

FDA-Approved GLP-1s for weight loss

*Mechanism of action (MoA) refers to how a molecule, such as a drug, functions to produce a pharmacological effect, such as its impact on cell growth or the modulation of a protein.

FDA-Approved GLP-1s for diabetes, often used off-label weight loss