Impact of semaglutide 2.4 mg on healthcare resource utilization and medical costs in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in the United States (SHINE-ASCVD)

Jun 28, 2025Journal of medical economics

Semaglutide 2.4 mg and its effects on healthcare use and medical costs in US patients with artery-related heart disease

AI simplified

GLP-1 Therapies on OpenScience ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Abstract

Semaglutide 2.4 mg treatment is associated with 22% lower mean medical costs compared to untreated controls in patients with overweight or obesity and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

In the year following treatment initiation, patients receiving semaglutide 2.4 mg had a mean medical cost reduction of -$4,639 per patient per year.
The cost reduction is primarily driven by a 65% decrease in inpatient costs, translating to -$3,593 compared to untreated patients.
Patients on semaglutide 2.4 mg also experienced a 48% lower rate of inpatient visits, with a rate of 0.08 compared to 0.15 for controls.
The analysis included 770 patients treated with semaglutide 2.4 mg and 3,080 matched untreated controls, focusing on healthcare resource utilization.

AI simplified

BACKGROUND: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Semaglutide 2.4 mg (Wegovy) has demonstrated improved outcomes in patients with overweight or obesity (ov/ob) and ASCVD, but its impact on medical costs and healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) remains unknown.

AIMS: To compare all-cause medical costs and HCRU among patients with ov/ob and ASCVD treated with semaglutide 2.4 mg versus semaglutide-untreated controls.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This observational cohort study utilized Komodo's Healthcare Map and included patients with ov/ob and ≥1 diagnosis of ASCVD during the baseline period with ≥12 months of insurance coverage before and after the index date. Patients in the semaglutide 2.4 mg cohort initiated treatment after 4 June 2021 and stayed adherent. Semaglutide-untreated controls were randomly selected and 1:4 propensity score matched based on baseline demographics, clinical characteristics, medical costs, and HCRU. Medical costs and HCRU were compared using generalized linear models.

RESULTS: 770 semaglutide 2.4 mg-treated patients and 3,080 controls were included. In the year following treatment initiation, semaglutide 2.4 mg was associated with 22% lower mean medical costs versus controls (-$4,639 per patient per year [PPPY]; cost ratio = 0.78, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.67, 0.89). This difference is mainly due to lower inpatient costs with semaglutide 2.4 mg, which were 65% lower than controls (-$3,593; cost ratio = 0.35 [95% CI 0.21, 0.49]), along with a 48% lower inpatient visit rate (0.08 vs. 0.15; rate ratio = 0.52 [95% CI 0.34, 0.70]).

LIMITATIONS: Limitations inherent to retrospective claims analyses apply to this study.

CONCLUSIONS: This real-world analysis shows significantly lower annual medical costs and HCRU with semaglutide 2.4 mg versus no semaglutide 2.4 mg treatment in patients with ov/ob and ASCVD. Improving outcomes with semaglutide 2.4 mg combined with lower costs and HCRU may help slow the growing burden of ASCVD in this population.

Full Text

Full text is available at the source.

View full text ↗

Impact of semaglutide 2.4 mg on healthcare resource utilization and medical costs in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in the United States (SHINE-ASCVD)

Abstract

Full Text

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the glp-1 therapies brief

Abstract

Full Text

Related papers

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the glp-1 therapies brief