RE:RE:RE:RE:Obesity drugs https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38323078/
"PWH initiating ART gained excess weight in the first 2 years, emphasizing the importance of monitoring weight and cardiometabolic health among ART-treated PWH."
https://www.aidsmap.com/news/nov-2023/new-weight-loss-drugs-appear-safe-and-effective-people-living-hiv#:~:text=Weight%2Dloss%20medications%2C%20including%20the,and%20more%20studies%20are%20needed.
We know the real issue is trunk fat and not BMI but I think PLWH like general population are and will be tempted to use the easy way dealing with weight gain which apparently happens less than 2 years after initiating the anti viral therapy. So what company is doing now is to to sell the drug for both lipodystrophy and loss of muscle mass a side effect of weight loss drugs among overweight HIV patients who are also suffering from lipodystrophy and taking those blockbuster drugs both conditions side effects of antivirals. The popularity of these weight loss drugs is mind blowing despite the side effects and quite frankly muscle loss isn't the most severe of them. Nevertheless if these selling techniques can boost the sales why not? Egrifta is safe, the only approved drug in North America for HIV lipodystrophy which is a serious metabolic disease and if increased muscle mass motivate PLWH to get started on it and stay put so be it. As for pricing PLWH suffering with lipodystrophy I believe have insurance coverage in the US so the real issue isn't the price but motivating patients and the realization of multiple therapeutic benefits of Egrifta.
Mannequin wrote: We are told that there can never be a pill version, so maybe it's the sheer cost of manufacturing? However if you were to manufacturer at huge scale, does that allow you to reduce the costs while growing sales? And can you introduce a different low cost variant?
PWIB123 wrote: I don't know enough about how pharmacueticals manage pricing, and I cannot get my head wrapped around how they make EGRIFTA more affordable for the masses. Any thoughts there?
palinc2000 wrote: From the transcripts of yesterday d CC
In fact, our total number of unique patients hit an all-time high at the end of calendar 2023, up 13% year-over-year for the month of December. Allow me for a moment now to remind people about the EGRIFTA SV's benefits and marketing position, given the noise about weight loss drugs and particularly GLP-1s, where recent clinical research has shown them to also induce muscle mass reduction.
As the only medication of its kind approved in the US and designed specifically for adults with HIV, EGRIFTA SV's unique mechanism of action decreases excess visceral abdominal fat while actually increasing lean body mass.
This is especially important people with HIV where muscle loss can be a serious issue. Furthermore, healthcare providers are increasingly recognizing that excess visceral abdominal fat is a medical condition that can lead to very serious health consequences if left untreated.
We welcome this shift in understanding and diagnosis that should support patient identification and market demand for EGRIFTA SV. Before we move on, I want to address the recent update concerning our sBLA for the F8 formulation of Tesamorelin and take a moment to review the facts and timelines.