1 in 8 adults have taken GLP-1s like Ozempic: survey

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Good afternoon! Using a buzzy class of weight reduction and diabetes medications is more common than ever. 

About 1 in 8 adults within the U.S. has used a GLP-1 drug in some unspecified time in the future, in response to a survey from health policy research organization KFF released Friday. Roughly half of those Americans, or around 6% of U.S. adults, are currently using certainly one of the treatments.

That features Novo Nordisk‘s weight reduction injection Wegovy and diabetes drug Ozempic, together with Eli Lilly‘s weight reduction treatment Zepbound and diabetes counterpart Mounjaro.

The survey shows large numbers of Americans are taking the drugs despite intermittent shortages attributable to unrelenting demand. The treatments have skyrocketed in popularity during the last 12 months despite their high costs and limited insurance coverage.

Let’s dive into a number of the data.

Most adults, or greater than 60%, who’ve used a GLP-1 reported taking them partly to administer chronic conditions reminiscent of diabetes or heart disease. That features 39% who took a GLP-1 solely to treat a chronic condition, and 23% who took one to each treat a chronic condition and shed some pounds.

Meanwhile, 38% of adults who’ve taken a GLP-1 reported using them specifically to shed some pounds.

Notably, GLP-1 usage differed depending on race and ethnicity.

• Around 18% of Black adults have taken certainly one of the drugs
• About 14% of Hispanic adults have used them
• Roughly 10% of white adults have taken certainly one of the drugs

Black and Hispanic adults within the U.S. have the next rate of obesity than white adults, in response to KFF’s evaluation of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. 

There have been also differences by age group, the survey said.

Nearly 20% of adults ages 50 to 64 said they’ve taken a GLP-1 before, which is higher than the shares reported by other age groups.

Nevertheless, younger adults were more likely than those 65 and above to report taking a GLP-1 specifically for weight reduction. KFF said that will reflect the undeniable fact that the federal Medicare program doesn’t cover prescription weight reduction drugs.

Medicare can only cover treatments for weight reduction in the event that they are approved within the U.S. for a further health profit, reminiscent of treating diabetes and reducing the chance of heart disease.

But nearly all of all adults, no matter whether or not they have taken a GLP-1, said they think Medicare should cover the fee of the drugs when prescribed for weight reduction and for people who find themselves chubby, in response to the KFF survey.

Still, greater than half of adults with medical insurance who’ve taken GLP-1s said their plans covered a part of the fee of those drugs. Meanwhile, 24% said their insurance covered the total cost of the drug, and 19% said they paid for all the cost themselves. 

The information points on this survey could change in the longer term as GLP-1s win approval for use to treat other conditions, reminiscent of sleep apnea and fatty liver disease, which might put more pressure on health plans to cover them. Stay tuned for our coverage on the usage of these drugs. 

Be happy to send any suggestions, suggestions, story ideas and data to Annika at annikakim.constantino@nbcuni.com.

Google on Wednesday announced a latest artificial intelligence model called AlphaFold 3, which it said can illustrate the complex interactions and structures of “all of life’s molecules.” The corporate hopes the model will transform drug discovery and biological research. 

AlphaFold 3 predicts the shapes and behaviors of huge biomolecules reminiscent of DNA, RNA and proteins, in addition to small molecules which might be often utilized in drugs, in response to a Google blog post. When the model is prompted with an inventory of molecules, it may possibly show how all of them fit together by generating their joint 3D structure. 

Modeling molecules reminiscent of proteins has historically been an arduous task for researchers. Google said experimental protein-structure prediction can cost tons of of 1000’s of dollars and take years to finish. Google said AlphaFold 3 could help speed up drug discovery and genomics research, and contribute to latest scientific discoveries reminiscent of “biorenewable materials and more resilient crops.”

The model was developed by Google DeepMind, which researches and builds AI systems, and Isomorphic Labs, which explores applications of AI inside drug development. Since AlphaFold 3 features a broad group of biomolecules, it goes beyond the capabilities of AlphaFold 2, which might predict the structures of proteins. 

DeepMind announced AlphaFold 2 in 2020. It has been utilized by “hundreds of thousands” of researchers in areas reminiscent of cancer treatments, malaria vaccines and enzyme design, Google said. 

AlphaFold 3 is capable of predict the interactions between proteins and other molecules a minimum of 50% higher than other existing methods, and the model doubled the prediction accuracy for other interaction categories, in response to the blog post. 

“We consider this latest technology has the potential to be transformative for biological research,” Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said in a LinkedIn post.

Google said scientists will have the opportunity to access the “majority” of AlphaFold 3’s capabilities free of charge through its latest AlphaFold Server. The corporate launched the server as a part of its “ongoing commitment to share the advantages of AlphaFold,” the blog post said.

Researchers from Google DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs published their findings within the scientific journal “Nature.”

Be happy to send any suggestions, suggestions, story ideas and data to Ashley at ashley.capoot@nbcuni.com.