Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was relaxing and invigorating, because that oh-so-familiar routine of meetings, deadlines, and messages has returned. But what can you do? There is no pause button to stop the world from spinning. So this means one thing: time to dig in to the tasks at hand. On that note, we have fired up the coffee kettle for a cup of stimulation — our choice today is magic mountain — and have assembled a menu of tidbits to help you get started. Hope your day is simply smashing and, as always, do keep in touch if something saucy arises. …
Novo Nordisk has begun selling its popular weight loss drug Wegovy for $349 a month to cash payers, months ahead of the timeline set out with the Trump administration, Reuters tells us. The same cash price will apply to most doses of its diabetes drug Ozempic, except the highest 2-milligram dose, which will remain $499. Novo and the Trump administration announced a deal earlier this month to cut the prices of Wegovy and Ozempic, both known chemically as semaglutide, to $350 a month for cash payers starting in January, down from $499. Novo said the move is part of a broader push to expand access to “authentic, FDA-approved semaglutide medicines.” The company has struggled to fend off competition from Eli Lilly, which moved faster to offer its drug to cash payers, and from pharmacies and telehealth providers selling cheaper copies of Wegovy.
Patients with colon cancer and a history of treatment with GLP-1 receptor agonists for obesity had a five-year mortality rate that was less than half the rate for patients who did not take these drugs, MedPage Today explains, citing a large retrospective analysis. Involving 6,871 patients, the analysis showed a five-year mortality rate of 15.5% for those who used GLP-1 agonists versus 37.1% for non-users. The benefit persisted after adjustment for confounding factors but extended only to patients with a body mass index over 35. The study added to a recent accumulation of evidence regarding effects of the GLP-1 agonist class of diabetes and obesity drugs on cancer. However, rhe findings were based on 103 patients exposed to GLP-1 agonists, and researchers acknowledged the small sample size as a key limitation.
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