By Bhanvi Satija

(Reuters) -More than one in four U.S. adults with diabetes used one of the injectable medicines that target the GLP-1 protein last year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.

The wildly popular and effective GLP-1 drugs Mounjaro from Eli Lilly and Ozempic from Novo Nordisk are approved in the United States for treating type 2 diabetes. They are sold as Zepbound and Wegovy, respectively, for weight loss and are being tested for other conditions.

Use of the injectable drugs was highest among adults with diabetes aged 50–64 at 33.3%, reflecting the more significant disease burden in this group, the report said.

A quarter or 25.3% of adults with diabetes aged 18 to 34 reported using a GLP-1 drug, while the adoption rate was 20.8% among those 65 and older.

The data are from a nationally representative annual survey of U.S. adults aged 18 and older that was conducted in person and with follow-up by phone in 2024.

In 2024, for the first time, participants in the annual survey who had diabetes were asked if they were using the Lilly or Novo blockbusters or other GLP-1 drugs to lower blood sugar or lose weight.

The drugs mimic the activity of a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels, slows digestion and helps people feel full for longer.

Drugmakers Lilly and Novo have faced criticism about the cost of the treatments, which carry a list price of about $1,000 for a month’s supply.

Roughly 31% of survey participants who reported using insulin also reported using GLP-1 drugs, as did about 28% of patients who were using oral drugs to control their blood sugar, according to the report, indicating that these treatments are being integrated into combination regimens.

Hispanic adults with diabetes had the highest rate of GLP-1 use, at 31.3%, followed by Black non-Hispanic and White non-Hispanic adults, at 26.5% and 26.2%, respectively, the survey found.

Only 12.1% of Asian non-Hispanic adults with diabetes used the drugs, which may reflect disparities in access or adoption of the therapies.

(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; editing by Nancy Lapid and Aurora Ellis)