Altering The Treatment Paradigm for Obesity and MACE Indications with Oral GLP-1's

Pharmaceutical Executive: How might the treatment paradigm for obesity and MACE indications change in terms of accessibility, patient experience, and early intervention strategies?
Madeline Verbeke: So I think with the oral and injectables, we’re seeing a big increase of use and population just because of receiving these additional indications, like MACE. We have one in obstructive sleep apnea, MASH. I think there's a lot more people who can gain access to these drugs because they have these indications, we see a lot of Payers being a bit more restrictive with the obesity coverage versus these obesity related conditions. So they might not be covering for obesity, but they'll cover for obstructive sleep apnea or mace. So we see a little bit more leniency there with payers and a little bit easier to get access if you do have one of those other labeled indications

Pharmaceutical Executive: What are the most important considerations for translating cardiovascular benefits observed in injectable GLP-1s to their oral counterparts?
Madeline Verbeke: I Think that we need to have the studies show that they are reducing cardiovascular risk in the orals, just like they are with the injectables. And I know there's been a lot of there's been studies comparing the different GLP ones and their cardiovascular risk reduction to see which is more efficacious than the other. And I think we'll have to do the same with the orals. And if they can prove that they're reducing cardiovascular risk, that's a huge untapped population in the United States, where there's a lot of patients who could use that benefit and reducing that risk.

Pharmaceutical Executive: Where do you see the greatest clinical potential and unmet need for innovation in the GLP-1 space?
Madeline Verbeke: There's so many people who could benefit from GLP ones. There's a lot of conditions caused by obesity. And are obesity related, I think that if we can have them become more accessible, less expensive, even just making the requirements to get the drugs a little more clear, I think that will help a lot. There's a lot of people having to pay out of pocket to get these drugs, or going through different kind of more unique routes. We have manufacturers doing the direct to consumer programs where you can get paid cash price, a reduced cash price. If you go right through the manufacturer, there's compounders, which is kind of a safety and risk discussion around that as well, but I just think that there's a lot of room for making them more affordable so that the patients who really need them can access them.