Atiya Jordan recounts in Black Enterprise the disparity ‘…between the use of the anti-obesity and diabetes medication among Black people…’ while ‘…white people are four times more likely to receive a prescription.’
A new Tema Cardiovascular & Metabolic ETF, or exchange traded fund, seeks to invest ‘…in companies tackling diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular diseases…’ from Bansari Mayur Kamdar at Reuters.
Alex Janin writes in The Wall Street Journal writes that ‘…Thanksgiving collides with a national conversation about Ozempic, Wegovy and other blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes drugs.’
There is cautious optimism that ‘…weight loss drugs such as Ozempic could have benefits for those suffering from various mental health disorders…’ from Aleks Phillips at Newsweek.
Stanford University materials engineersreport on ‘…a novel hydrogel drug delivery system that transforms daily or weekly injections of diabetes and weight control drugs like Ozempic, Mounjaro, Trulicity, Victoza, and others to just once every four months.’
NEWS
Atiya Jordan recounts in Black Enterprise the disparity ‘…between the use of the anti-obesity and diabetes medication among Black people…’ while ‘…white people are four times more likely to receive a prescription.’
Though one study ‘…uncovered that between 2015 and 2020, 56.6% of Black adults were eligible for semaglutide…’ as well as being ‘…at greater risk for developing Type 2 diabetes.’
Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine Internal Medicine physician Kimbra A. Bell, MD relates ‘…Unfortunately, access to care is a huge barrier within our Black and brown communities.’
In the ongoing limited supplies of GLP-1 medications, Novo Nordisk ‘…will ration starter kits of Ozempic in Europe and reduce supplies of another diabetes drug, Victoza, to prioritise producing Ozempic…’ in news from Reuters this week.
A statement on the European Medicines Agency website noted ‘…Intermittent Ozempic shortages are expected throughout 2024, while Victoza shortages are expected at least until the second quarter of 2024.’
In addition, there would be a limit to ‘… the supply of the 0.25-mg starting dose of Ozempic to prioritise patients already on the weekly therapy over prospective new patients.’
A new Tema Cardiovascular & Metabolic ETF, or exchange traded fund, seeks to invest ‘…in companies tackling diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular diseases…’ from Bansari Mayur Kamdar at Reuters.
David K. Song, investment partner and head of life sciences at Tema ETFs notes ‘…The advances of the class of weight-loss and diabetes therapies known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, are only the tip of the iceberg…’ with a view to ‘…significant long term opportunities in this area of life sciences over the next several years.’
Indeed, there is good reason for the hype, building upon research from Morgan Stanley that ‘…expects the market for obesity drugs to surge to $77 billion in 2030 from $2.4 billion in 2022.’
OPINION
Annalisa Merelli at STAT discussesZepbound, the ‘…the new moniker for Eli Lilly’s blockbuster diabetes drug Mounjaro.’
It is likely to be lost on some that ‘…Zepbound and Mounjaro are the exact same medication, tirzepatide, with the same strength…’ and so why the two names?
Eli Lilly says that ‘…the reason is that type 2 diabetes and obesity patients have different needs…’ from an education of providers and resources perspective; but a simpler approach may be to conduct price negotiations separately for those with diabetes versus obesity.
From a consumer perspective, I do think that having two brand names can be helpful; for example, amitriptyline is an anti-depressant drug, though is beneficial in patients with chronic pain, and patients may be perturbed to use the drug if they think it is only for those with depression.
And to put things into context, there are ‘…500,000 names in global trademark databases and 250,000 in global regulatory databases.’
Unsurprisingly, the ‘…the year of Ozempic…’ can ‘…can seem fundamentally incompatible with Thanksgiving…’ in a holiday that’s all about food, as per Dani Blum at The New York Times.
Amy Bentley, a food historian at New York University reminds us with Thanksgiving that ‘…It really is just the meal… That’s it, that’s the holiday.’
This leads some to wonder ‘…whether they should tell family members that they are on the medication…’ or worse, questioning whether to ‘…sacrifice their weekly shot so they can pile on the pumpkin pie?’
Alex Janin writes in The Wall Street Journal writes that ‘…Thanksgiving collides with a national conversation about Ozempic, Wegovy and other blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes drugs.’
Dr. Gauri Khurana, a psychiatrist in private practice in New York City relates with ‘…It’s a hot topic, and people have a lot of judgments…’ many being ‘…worried about facing questions about what they’re eating, what they’re not eating, and changes in their appearance.’
More positively, Reagan Seabourn, 52, says ‘…she felt like a prisoner to food at Thanksgivings past…’ and ‘…on Ozempic, the Quinlan, Texas, resident anticipates making healthier choices and worrying less about it.’
There is cautious optimism that ‘…weight loss drugs such as Ozempic could have benefits for those suffering from various mental health disorders…’ from Aleks Phillips at Newsweek.
Dr. Mahavir Agarwal, an associate professor in psychiatry at the University of Toronto, said ‘…people with mental conditions were more exposed to weight gain and associated physiological problems as there is inherent biological overlap.’
Agarwal is undertaking a study on ‘…whether semaglutide could improve weight and metabolism among schizophrenic patients who were obese…’ and also performing ‘…MRI scans to track changes in cognition.’
DATA
Stanford University materials engineersreport on ‘…a novel hydrogel drug delivery system that transforms daily or weekly injections of diabetes and weight control drugs like Ozempic, Mounjaro, Trulicity, Victoza, and others to just once every four months.’
Publishing in Cell Reports Medicine, principal investigator Eric Appel at Stanford said ‘…Adherence is one of the biggest challenges in Type 2 diabetes management…’ in reference to a new hydrogel that allows the slow release of the diet control drugs over many months.
The new hydrogel, technically known as a polymer-nanoparticle (PNP) hydrogel ‘…melts away over many months like a sugar cube dissolving in water, molecule by molecule…’ as per Appel.
This could not only be a game-changer in terms of medication adherence, with potential to reduce the costs of GLP-1 medications, from their development, to distribution and acceptance.
