OBJECTIVES: Assessment of orlistat, liraglutide and sibutramine consumption in the Russian Federation as a therapy recommended by the Russian Clinical Guidelines for the pharmacotherapy of obesity.

METHODS: IQVIA database was selected for information on the sales of the considered drugs in the retail, at the expense of the federal and regional budgets in the period 2011-2021 in the Russian Federation. The consumed volumes of each drug were recalculated into the number of Defined Daily Doses (DDDs) for each international nonproprietary name in accordance with the WHO methodology.

RESULTS: The analysis showed that over a 10-year period there is a tendency to reduce the consumption of drugs for the treatment of obesity from 83.03 million DDDs in 2011 to 71.7 million DDDs in 2021. At the same time, sibutramine consumption dominated throughout the observation period: its share among drugs for the treatment of obesity ranged from 76% to 84%. The proportion of people receiving obesity pharmacotherapy in the Russian Federation is about 0.5%. 58-66% of DDDs sales were carried out in 3 regions: Moscow, Moscow region and St. Petersburg.

CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacotherapeutic approaches to the obesity treatment in the Russian Federation are used in no more than 0.5% of persons for whom it is indicated. Low efficacy, high frequency of adverse reactions, frequent weight gain after discontinuation of therapy, as well as low orientation of doctors to the need for pharmacotherapy are probably the main factors determining the low prevalence of pharmacotherapy in the treatment of obesity. Clinical and economic studies are required to assess the cost-effectiveness of using various options for drug therapy and bariatric interventions for obesity in the Russian healthcare system.