{"id":794931,"date":"2026-07-31T06:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T06:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/794931\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T06:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T06:56:10","slug":"half-a-million-australians-now-using-glp-1-drugs-as-private-prescriptions-soar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/794931\/","title":{"rendered":"Half a million Australians now using GLP-1 drugs as private prescriptions soar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Half a million Australians<\/a> are regularly using GLP-1 medicines<\/a>, with almost half paying between $200 and $700 out of pocket each month, new research has found.<\/p>\n

A study led by UNSW Sydney estimates about 500,000 people were using GLP-1 medicines<\/a> monthly by April 2025, with private prescriptions accounting for almost 44 per cent of all use.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Half a million Australians are regularly using GLP-1 medicines, with almost half paying between $200 and $700 out of pocket each month.\u00a0AP<\/p>\n

The research is the first to track both subsidised and private GLP-1 use across the country.<\/p>\n

Lead author Associate Professor Michael Falster said demand has skyrocketed, with monthly sales jumping from 58,000 in May 2020 to 500,000 in April 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the same five-year period, PBS-subsidised access increased steadily from 58,000 units in the first month to 280,000 units in the last,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrivate access surged from zero to 43.8 per cent of total estimated use.\u201d<\/p>\n

To fill a gap in national data, researchers combined pharmaceutical sales records with Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme<\/a> (PBS) dispensing data to map private supply.<\/p>\n

The study\u2019s estimates remain conservative, as they exclude Saxenda and Wegovy prescriptions issued solely for weight loss.<\/p>\n

GLP-1 medicines include Ozempic, Trulicity, Victoza and Wegovy, while Mounjaro belongs to a related class of medicines that target GLP-1 pathways.<\/p>\n

While developed for type 2 diabetes, they\u2019re often prescribed for obesity, cardiovascular disease, and kidney conditions.<\/p>\n

Currently, PBS subsidies are restricted to eligible type 2 diabetes patients, driving calls to expand subsidised access to patients with obesity and heart disease.<\/p>\n

Falster said that the data could help policymakers make future decisions around expanding eligibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know diabetes and obesity disproportionately affect people from low socio-economic groups,\u201d Falster said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile it\u2019s clear many people are willing to pay for private GLP-1 prescriptions, it\u2019s also likely many who would benefit will struggle to afford them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Half a million Australians are regularly using GLP-1 medicines, with almost half paying between $200 and $700 out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":794932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[97,243],"class_list":["post-794931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-health","tag-medication"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/794932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}