From Fortune:

North Carolina is cutting off coverage of anti-obesity medications for state employees due to soaring costs and a lack of agreement on pricing from drugmakers. The decision affects a class of drugs known as GLP-1s, which are used to treat diabetes and weight loss. The North Carolina’s State Health Plan spent $100 million on the drugs last year, and its consultant projected a $1.5 billion loss by 2030 if it continued to pay for them. This has led to a $54 million increase in the amount spent on prescriptions for existing patients.

The decision could carry wider implications for an anti-obesity drug market Wall Street projects will grow to $100 billion or more by 2030. Many state-backed plans don’t cover GLP-1s for weight loss, but the ones that do are trying to limit rapidly increasing costs.

North Carolina’s Treasurer said the plan had also been in discussions through this week with Eli Lilly & Co. A spokesperson for Eli Lilly didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours. Both Folwell and Novo Nordisk said they would continue to attempt to reach an agreement on costs.

“We do not support insurers or bureaucrats inserting their judgment in these medically driven decisions,” a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk said in an emailed statement, adding that it would continue to engage with plan officials on cost concerns. “We urge Treasurer Dale R. Folwell and the NCSHP to reconsider this decision and put patients first.”



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