OBJECTIVES: Since their market introduction, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists have revolutionized the treatment of obesity. Besides weight loss, GLP-1 receptor agonists show compelling evidence of reducing the risk of obesity-related major cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes and have therefore been named the “Breakthrough of the Year 2023” by the renowned journal Science. The goal of our study was to assess prescription patterns for GLP-1 receptor agonists as well as associated patient characteristics in Germany.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective claims data analysis using 2017-2022 data from the anonymized InGef research database, which is representative of the German population in terms of age and gender. Patients ≥18 years were included in the analysis if they presented with ≥1 prescription of ATC code A10BJ “Glucagon-like-peptide-1-[GLP-1]-receptor agonists”. Demographic characteristics, comorbidities, and comorbidity groups of patients as well as prescribing trends were analyzed.

RESULTS: We identified 36,602 adult patients with at least one prescription for GLP-1 receptor agonists between 2017 and 2022. At the time of the first prescription, patients were 61.9 years old on average and 56.4% were male. Over the years, the number of patients with prescriptions increased by 257.2%, from 7,981 in 2017 to 28,509 in 2022. Prescriptions were mainly made by general practitioners (90.9%). In addition to diabetes, the comorbidity burden over the six-year study period was substantial. About 92.8% of patients presented with hypertension, 82.1% with overweight/obesity, 79.3% with disorders of lipoprotein metabolism and other lipidemias, 38.2% with sleep disorders, and 36.9% had at least one depressive episode.

CONCLUSIONS: As expected, there is a strong increase in prescriptions of GLP-1 receptor agonists in Germany and most patients present with a high morbidity burden. Future analyses using longitudinal real-world data and appropriate control groups are necessary to confirm the benefits of this promising medication class on comorbidities and patient outcomes.