Catherine E Thomas1, Elizabeth A Mauer2, Alpana P Shukla1, Samrat Rathi3, Louis J Aronne1. 1. Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism, Comprehensive Weight Control Center, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, USA. 2. Department of Healthcare Policy & Research, Division of Biostatistics & Epidemiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, USA. 3. VIVUS, Inc., Mountain View, California, USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To characterize the adoption of antiobesity pharmacotherapies, as compared with that of the newest antidiabetes pharmacotherapy, subtype 2 sodium-glucose transport protein inhibitors (SGLT2s), among prescribers in the United States. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 2012 to 2015 data extracted from the IMS Health National Prescription Audit™ and Xponent™ assessed adoption rates of antiobesity pharmacotherapies and SGLT2s. RESULTS: The number of dispensed antidiabetes prescriptions was 15 times the number of dispensed antiobesity prescriptions. The antiobesity market share was: 74.0% phentermine, 18.6% new antiobesity pharmacotherapies. The mean increase in prescriptions/month were: 25,259 for SGLT2s, 5,154 for new antiobesity pharmacotherapies, and 2,718 for phentermine. Medical specialties prescribing the majority of the analysis medications were Family Medicine/General Practice and Internal Medicine. Endocrinology had the highest prevalence of prescribers of any subspecialty. CONCLUSIONS: The adoption rate of SGLT2s was nearly exponential, while the adoption rate of new antiobesity pharmacotherapies was linear. Considering the relative prevalence of obesity to diabetes and that obesity is a major cause of diabetes, these results are paradoxical and suggest systematic barriers against the prescribing of antiobesity pharmacotherapies. The under-prescribing of antiobesity pharmacotherapies is widely acknowledged, but this is the first prescription data of these new medications to demonstrate its extent in the United States.
OBJECTIVE: To characterize the adoption of antiobesity pharmacotherapies, as compared with that of the newest antidiabetes pharmacotherapy, subtype 2 sodium-glucose transport protein inhibitors (SGLT2s), among prescribers in the United States. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 2012 to 2015 data extracted from the IMS Health National Prescription Audit™ and Xponent™ assessed adoption rates of antiobesity pharmacotherapies and SGLT2s. RESULTS: The number of dispensed antidiabetes prescriptions was 15 times the number of dispensed antiobesity prescriptions. The antiobesity market share was: 74.0% phentermine, 18.6% new antiobesity pharmacotherapies. The mean increase in prescriptions/month were: 25,259 for SGLT2s, 5,154 for new antiobesity pharmacotherapies, and 2,718 for phentermine. Medical specialties prescribing the majority of the analysis medications were Family Medicine/General Practice and Internal Medicine. Endocrinology had the highest prevalence of prescribers of any subspecialty. CONCLUSIONS: The adoption rate of SGLT2s was nearly exponential, while the adoption rate of new antiobesity pharmacotherapies was linear. Considering the relative prevalence of obesity to diabetes and that obesity is a major cause of diabetes, these results are paradoxical and suggest systematic barriers against the prescribing of antiobesity pharmacotherapies. The under-prescribing of antiobesity pharmacotherapies is widely acknowledged, but this is the first prescription data of these new medications to demonstrate its extent in the United States.
Authors: Jason P Block; Niteesh K Choudhry; Daniel P Carpenter; Michael A Fischer; Troyen A Brennan; Angela Y Tong; Olga S Matlin; William H Shrank Journal: Obesity (Silver Spring) Date: 2013-12-02 Impact factor: 5.002
Authors: Patrick M O'Neil; Steven R Smith; Neil J Weissman; Meredith C Fidler; Matilde Sanchez; Jinkun Zhang; Brian Raether; Christen M Anderson; William R Shanahan Journal: Obesity (Silver Spring) Date: 2012-03-16 Impact factor: 5.002
Authors: K Stenlöf; W T Cefalu; K-A Kim; M Alba; K Usiskin; C Tong; W Canovatchel; G Meininger Journal: Diabetes Obes Metab Date: 2013-01-24 Impact factor: 6.577
Authors: Rena R Wing; Wei Lang; Thomas A Wadden; Monika Safford; William C Knowler; Alain G Bertoni; James O Hill; Frederick L Brancati; Anne Peters; Lynne Wagenknecht Journal: Diabetes Care Date: 2011-05-18 Impact factor: 19.112
Authors: Eric J Vargas; Carl M Pesta; Ahmad Bali; Eric Ibegbu; Fateh Bazerbachi; Rachel L Moore; Vivek Kumbhari; Reem Z Sharaiha; Trace W Curry; Gina DosSantos; Ramsey Schmitz; Abhishek Agnihotri; Aleksey A Novikov; Tracy Pitt; Margo K Dunlap; Andrea Herr; Louis Aronne; Erin Ledonne; Hoda C Kadouh; Lawrence J Cheskin; Manpreet S Mundi; Andres Acosta; Christopher J Gostout; Barham K Abu Dayyeh Journal: Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol Date: 2018-02-07 Impact factor: 11.382