There is still a lot we don’t know when it comes to GLP-1s. How do these drugs’ side effects vary across different patients? How effective are these medications in the long term? Are barriers to GLP-1s worsening health inequities?
On Tuesday, OMNY Health — a national data ecosystem that facilitates biotech and medical research — launched a data network that might help answer some of those questions.
The new data network seeks to give OMNY’s life sciences and health system partners a vast source of GLP-1 data that is related to patient demographics and social determinants of health, said OMNY CEO Mitesh Rao.
“It is important to recognize that these medications affect every part of the body. With diverse and comprehensive data, clinicians can deliver more equitable treatment plans that reflect the larger systemic impact they have on the whole body. Researchers will also be able to better understand how the medications affect broader health outcomes,” he explained.
The new data network consists of EHR data from more than 645,000 patients. This patient population represents a broad set of demographic characteristics, including age ranges, race, ethnicity, and region of care delivery, as well as provider and payer types, Rao noted.
He said that one of the GLP-1 data network’s main goals is to inform clinical trials with diverse populations, enabling clinicians to make more informed decisions on how to incorporate these medications into their patients’ care.
OMNY recently used its new GLP-1 data network to conduct two studies with life sciences partners, Rao pointed out.
One of these focused on pediatric use of GLP-1s, which was not approved by FDA until December 2022. It found that the median age of pediatric GLP-1 users was 16 years, and the majority of these patients (72%) were female, he stated. The other study, which focused on social determinants of health, discovered that GLP-1 patients were half as likely to have economic burden issues noted in their EHR record compared to the population of non-users, he added.
“The data network will provide timely and comprehensive insight into how patients are navigating GLP-1 medications, allowing clinicians to better optimize care plans and outcomes,” he said. “It will allow researchers to better understand the impact of these medications on overall health beyond weight loss, and provide a deeper view into how elements like social determinants affect the health outcomes of patients on GLP-1s.”
The growing demand for GLP-1s has made the need for comprehensive data on the drug class more urgent than ever, Rao noted. A KFF Health Tracking Poll from May found that 12% U.S. adults said they have taken a GLP-1 drug.
Photo: Natali_Mis, Getty Images
