WHO adds weight-loss, diabetes drugs to essential medicines list

Along with treatments for cancer and cystic fibrosis, the World Health Organization (WHO) has updated its list of essential medicines to include medications for obesity and diabetes.

People in developing nations should also be able to purchase cheap generic versions of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) medications, according to a statement released on Friday.

The WHO recommends that all functioning health systems have access to 523 medications for adults and 374 for children.

The new editions of WHO’s Health Systems, Access and Data list “mark a significant step toward expanding access to new medicines with proven clinical benefits and a high potential for global public health impact,” said Yukiko Nakatani, WHO’s assistant director-general for Health Systems, Access and Data.

To treat type 2 diabetes in combination with existing cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, or obesity, the expert committee added the active ingredients to the list from Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro.

The most recent editions of the WHO Model Lists of Essential Medicines and Children’s Medicines are available today.

These lists, which are among the WHO’s most significant products, are used in over 150 nations to influence the supply of medicines, health care, and public sector procurement.

The medications, which were first developed to treat diabetes, have grown in popularity as weight-loss medications under various brand names. However, unlike in 2023, the WHO did not include them in the obesity treatment program.

According to the committee, this decision provided clear recommendations for which patients would gain the most from the treatments.

The WHO statement continued, “Medicare access is being hampered by the high prices of semaglutide and tirzepatide,” noting that encouraging generic drug makers to create the product would help when the drugs’ patents expire next year.

additions that are not already known

More than one billion people are affected by obesity, while more than 800 million people worldwide are currently living with diabetes.

The organization made plans earlier this year to recommend the use of obesity medications, which are separate from their inclusion on the essential medicines list.

More than 3.7 million people died from diseases linked to obesity or overweight in 2021, according to WHO data, more than 3.7 million of those deaths coming from malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV alone.

Additionally included on the list are Trikafta or Kaftrio, Trikafta or Trikafta, both from Vertex Pharmaceuticals. For years, activists have criticized its high price and limited accessibility.

Merck’s key-selling cancer immunotherapy drug, Keytruda, is also included in WHO’s list for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancers that have spread, or metastasizes, as well as cervical cancers, colorectal cancers, and non-small cell lung cancers that have metastasized or spread. Additionally, the organization suggested strategies to improve drug access.