Alcoholism, diabetes and obesity don't give you long enough to get these cancers. Even if we had evidence GLP-1 agonists massively increased the risk of these cancers, which we don't, despite them having been studied and prescribed for decades [1][2], the tradeoff makes sense for much of the population.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLP-1_receptor_agonist#Approve...
Age doesn't cost society, morbidity does [1]. A society of long-lived healthy people is richer than one of the short-lived obese.
To put that into perspective, annual cost of diabetes to America is $1,200 per capita ($1,300 adjusted for inflation [2]. 40% more than a month of Ozempic [3].
One twelfth of Americans have diabetes [4]. If the government could negotiate just a 10% bulk discount, the payback period on buying every American with diabetes Ozempic would be around a year. Even if everyone ceased treatment after that, even if you only did this for a couple years, we'd see a permanent boost in productivity and health across the American population.
[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37909353/
[2] https://www.usinflationcalculator.com
[3] https://ro.co/weight-loss/ozempic-cost-without-insurance/
[4] https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statisti...
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/how-affordable-could-...
"Semaglutide is expected to become patent-free in the United States no earlier than December 2031" [1].
We could probably strike a volume deal for ~$200 for 5 years and then $75 (the upper end of your study’s estimate for manufacturing cost) for another 5.
My understanding is that they are patentening the drug+device and or the dosing, not the molecule. Looks like the FTC is clamping down on it.