Washington Post, Americans spent $71 billion on GLP-1 drugs in 2023 (Apr. 21, 2025)

[keangkong]

Washington Post, Americans spent $71 billion on GLP-1 drugs in 2023 -
Spending on Ozempic, Wegovy and similar prescriptions soared 500 percent in five years, according to a research letter (Apr. 21, 2025), unlocked article.

https://wapo.st/3RN38jj

 

[Calm Logic]

From the article: "Also in 2023, products that were approved to treat Type 2 diabetes accounted for 89 percent of all spending."

So, per Google Gemini: "This suggests that while some GLP-1 drugs are also approved for weight loss, the primary driver of the massive spending in 2023 was the use of these drugs for diabetes management."

 

[keangkong]

This data is from 2023. Obviously the numbers will turn out to be much larger for 2024.

 

[Calm Logic]

From an article last April:

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/03/weight-loss-diabetes-drug-ad-spending-tops-1-billion.html

Companies spent more than $1 billion on ads for weight loss and diabetes medicines in 2023, up 51% from the prior year, according to new data from advertising analytics firm MediaRadar. That’s nearly 15% of drugmakers’ $7.6 billion in ad spending for prescription drugs last year.

Diabetes treatments accounted for nearly $790 million in ad spending in 2023, while weight loss drugs made up almost $264 million...

Zepbound...won approval in the U.S. in November [2023], and some analysts say it could eventually become the top-selling drug of all time.

 

[jasonlovespeptides]

My bank account agrees. I’m kinda sick with how much I’ve spent