The issues of cost, affordability and access to GLP-1 therapies to treat people with obesity will not be going away anytime soon, according to speakers during a panel of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) at the Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute’s annual meeting today in Orlando. The increase in demand for such therapies and the research and approval of new drugs and new indications for drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound mean that employers, PBMs, and insurers will continue to grapple with how to offer these medications to patients.

“GLP-1s are the ever-present conversation,” said Oron Stenesh, vice president of product at Optum Rx.

GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic, Victoza and Mounjaro were first approved to treat patients with Type 2 diabetes. They top many trend reports as the drivers of

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