Research led by a Northwestern Medicine team found that, despite higher upfront costs, bariatric surgeries offer two more quality years of life compared to GLP-1 therapies.

The long-term cost-effectiveness of GLP-1s versus bariatric surgery has been a looming unknown in the healthcare industry. Gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy operations typically cost between $17,400 and $22,850. In contrast, the average annual cost of GLP-1s is between $9,360 and $16,200, but the ideal duration of GLP-1 regimens has not been established.

After analyzing the costs of these treatments until death (up to 50 years) and clinical trial efficacy findings for thousands of patients, the researchers uncovered two main findings.

First, bariatric surgery added two quality-adjusted life years and saved patients about $9,000 more each year compared to GLP-1s. Second, combining surgery and GLP-1s led to more benefits, with average savings of about $7,200 a year and five additional quality-adjusted life years compared to surgery alone.

For GLP-1s alone to achieve similar cost-effectiveness, their prices need to drop by about 75%, according to Joseph Sanchez, MD, the study's lead author.

Since their meteoric rise in popularity, GLP-1 therapies have caused heated arguments about high-cost prescription drugs. The list price of medicines like Ozempic and Wegovy has led to changes in payers coverage plans and healthcare systems' business strategies as hospital leaders navigate GLP-1 affordability issues.

The study's findings were recently presented at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2024. Learn more here.