Exclusive: Wegovy fuels sharp rise in use of weight-loss drugs for U.S. youth

Feb 15 (Reuters) – A small but rapidly growing number of U.S. adolescents began treatment with Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss drug Wegovy last year, a powerful new tool to address record rates of pediatric obesity, according to data shared exclusively with Reuters.

In the first 10 months of 2023, 1,268 children ages 12 to 17 with an obesity diagnosis started taking Wegovy, according to U.S. insurance claims data compiled by health technology company Komodo Health.

In 2022, only 25 children were prescribed the drug, which did not receive U.S. approval for adolescent use until December of that year. A month later, the influential American Academy of Pediatrics recommended weight-loss drugs be offered to children with obesity starting at age 12.

Medicaid data obtained by Reuters from five states, including Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, show a similar uptick in use of Wegovy. The overall numbers remain small, with at least 464 children across the five states being prescribed the drug since January 2022.

That does not include prescriptions bought without health insurance, or off-label use of two similar treatments for type 2 diabetes, Ozempic from Novo and Mounjaro from Eli Lilly.

Even so, they are a drop in the bucket as nearly 20% of U.S. children, or about 14.7 million, have obesity, according to federal estimates.

But the data indicate an increasing willingness among families to embrace Wegovy, the first highly effective treatment for obesity, short of surgery. Use of the weekly injection can involve great cost, with limited data on long-term risks and benefits.