Trends in Utilization of Glucose- and Weight-Lowering Medications After Tirzepatide Approval in the United States : A Population-Based Cohort Study
Authors' conclusion
These findings highlight the sharp uptake of tirzepatide after U.S. market entry and enhance understanding of the rapidly shifting landscape of prescribing patterns for GLMs and WLMs.
Study context
- Population
- Adults (≥18 years) with T2D and without diabetes with dispensations for glucose-lowering (glucose-lowering medications (GLMs)) and weight-lowering medications (WLMs), US commercial claims, January 2021 to December 2023
- Outcome
- Monthly trends in medication dispensations before and after tirzepatide market entry
Methodological detailsclaims data, large US commercial database, Limitation: generalizability to US adults without commercial health insurance is uncertain
- Claims data, large US commercial database
- Limitation: generalizability to US adults without commercial health insurance is uncertain
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Share of dispensations
- Tirzepatide, share of all GLM dispensations in adults with T2D by December 2023
- 12.3%
- SGLT2i, share of GLM dispensations in adults with T2D
- 14.5% to 24.4%
- GLP-1 receptor agonist (RAs), share of GLM dispensations in adults with T2D
- 19.5% to 28.5%
- Tirzepatide, share of WLM dispensations in adults without diabetes
- 0.0% to 40.6%
- Semaglutide (2.4 mg), share of WLM dispensations in adults without diabetes
- 0.0% to 32.2%
- Semaglutide (2.0 mg), most frequently dispensed WLM
- 37.8% to 45.7%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Incident users
- Similar trends were observed among incident users
Uptake vs initial postapproval periods of other GLMs and WLMs
- Tirzepatide uptake was more rapid and sustained than for other medications
Original publication
Trends in Utilization of Glucose- and Weight-Lowering Medications After Tirzepatide Approval in the United States : A Population-Based Cohort Study. Ann Intern Med. Published 15 April 2025. doi:10.
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