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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate patient, prescriber, and dose characteristics and evaluate changes in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) for patients prescribed once weekly semaglutide for diabetes (OW sema T2D). Methods: This study was a retrospective claims-based study using the Optum Research Database. The sample included adult patients who had at least one claim for OW sema T2D between Jan 1, 2018, and Dec 31, 2019, were continuously enrolled in the health plan and had a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) during the pre-index or post-index periods. Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients using OW sema T2D were collected, as were the dose and prescriber specialty and the change between pre-index and post-index HbA1c measures was calculated. Results were stratified by the latest pre-index HbA1c measurement (HbA1c greater than or equal to 9.0%, uncontrolled vs. HbA1c less than 9%, controlled). Statistical comparisons between HbA1c groups were conducted. Results: Most patients, 76.3%, were prescribed a 0.25/0.50 mg dose of OW sema T2D. Patients had an overall decrease in HbA1c of 0.8% and patients with uncontrolled diabetes had a greater reduction in mean HbA1c compared to those with controlled diabetes (-2.1% vs. -0.3%, p < 0.001). Most patients had their index dose of OW sema T2D prescribed by endocrinologists (27.6%) primary care providers (24.6%) and internal medicine providers (21.6%). Conclusions: OW sema T2D is an effective real-world T2DM treatment. Future research should further investigate real-world use patterns of this medication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Injectable once weekly semaglutide for diabetes (OW sema) is a medication approved in 2017 for the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). In clinical trials, OW sema has been shown to be effective at helping patients achieve glycemic targets. However, more data are needed to understand how patients who initiate treatment with OW sema are treated in the real world and to aid prescribers in making treatment decisions. This study characterized noninsulin antidiabetic medication use patterns among US patients with T2DM initiating treatment with OW sema., Methods: In this retrospective, claims-based study, patients (15,588) were included if they had at least 1 claim for OW sema between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2019, were at least 18 years old, were continuously enrolled in the health plan, and had at least 1 claim indicating a diagnosis of T2DM. All patients had at least 1 line of therapy (LOT) that started on the date of the first fill for OW sema. Data related to pre-index date demographics and clinical characteristics were collected, as were data on patient regimens and LOTs. The length of the LOT was calculated, and the top 10 noninsulin treatment regimens were reported in each LOT., Findings: In the first LOT, OW sema monotherapy was the most common regimen. More than one third (36.5%) of patients had 1 LOT until the end of follow-up and most patients who had a second (52.1%) or third (72.0%) LOT continued it to the end of the study. Among the top 10 regimens, 42.2% of patients with a second LOT and 45.8% of patients with a third LOT had an LOT that included OW sema., Implications: This study describes medication regimens within the first year of OW sema use. Among patients initiating OW sema, monotherapy was the most common regimen. These results provide insight into real-world usage patterns of this medication., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Caroline Swift, Sara Alvarez, Tyler J. Dunn, and Josh Noone are employees of Novo Nordisk. Monica Frazer was an employee of Optum at the time the study was conducted and is currently employed at QualityMetric. Andrew Sargent, Michael Leszko, Noelle N. Gronroos, and Erin Buysman are employees of Optum., (Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Medical management of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is complex because of the chronic nature of the disease and its associated comorbidities. Injectable once-weekly semaglutide for diabetes (OW sema T2D) is a type of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist approved for the treatment of patients with T2DM. Objectives: To describe patient characteristics and HbA1c changes for patients prescribed 1.0 mg maintenance dose OW sema T2D. Methods: This retrospective study included adult patients with T2DM with a pre-index glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) of at least 7%, initiating treatment with OW sema T2D between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2019, and prescribed a 1.0 mg maintenance dose. Patients were identified in the Optum Research Database and were included if they had continuous health plan enrollment for at least 12 months prior to (pre-index) and at least 12 months following (post-index) the date of the first OW sema T2D claim (index). Dose at initiation and prescriber specialty were captured. Change in HbA1c between the latest post-index and pre-index HbA1c measurement was calculated among all patients and among those with at least 90 days of continuous treatment (persistent patients). Results: A total of 2168 patients were included in this study. On average, patients were taking 13.5 different classes of medications. The majority of patients had lipid metabolism disorder (90.8%), hypertension (86.6%), diabetes with complications (86.8%), or other nutritional/endocrine/metabolic disorders (72.5%). The mean HbA1c reduction was 1.2% (P < .001). Patients persistent with OW sema T2D (n =1280) had a mean HbA1c reduction of 1.4% (P < .001). The mean (SD) days covered with a 1.0 mg maintenance dose was 236.1 (94.1) days. Discussion: Despite being medically complex, the patients in this real-world study experienced significant reductions in HbA1c following initiation of OW sema T2D. Conclusions: A 1.0 mg maintenance dose of OW sema T2D is an effective treatment for T2DM in the real world., Competing Interests: This study was funded by Novo Nordisk, which had a role in the analysis and interpretation of the data. C.S., S.A., T.J.D., and J.N. are employees and shareholders of Novo Nordisk Inc. N.N.G., A.S., M.L., and E.B. are employees of Optum, which received funding from Novo Nordisk Inc. for conducting the study. M.S.F. was an employee of Optum at the time the study was conducted.