The Duke Clinical Research Institute hosted a think tank, "Anti-Obesity Pharmacotherapy: Need for Guidance, Access, and Equity" in October 2024. This brought together multi-industry stakeholders to align and advance the field of obesity medications (OMs). Key themes included the need for an evidence-based, patient-centric definition of obesity incorporating alternative measures of excess or dysfunctional adiposity, obesity symptoms, and obesity-related complications; barriers to OM access (cost and availability) that perpetuate inequalities in care; ambiguity in optimal clinical OM use; challenges of novel clinical trial designs; and ethics of placebo-controlled trials. Action items included a cross-stakeholder obesity research roadmap, standardized obesity measures inclusive of and beyond body mass index, strategies to ensure equitable OM access, and a forum to address regulatory and payer challenges. The complex, rapidly developing field of obesity research and OM development requires a strategy to ensure equitable, streamlined research and access to OMs.
“The financial burden (including co-payments) may lead to a disproportionate increase in the use of unregulated compounded [obesity medications] among marginalized populations...associated with significant adverse effects.”
Gouda et al. (Wed,) studied this question.