The obesity epidemic is sweeping the globe and it seems no country is immune. The US is regarded as the most obese nation in the western world, however, the UK is not far behind. By 2015, almost 16 million Britons over the age of 20 are forecast to be obese which is about the current population of the Netherlands.

While anti-obesity drugs are available, the growth in their use is not mirroring the growth in the obese population because they are not reimbursed by governmental health bodies, most of whom consider obesity a ‘lifestyle’ disease. While some believe obesity is a bigger public health threat than climate change, according to a new report, the anti-obesity drug development pipeline is unlikely to produce a pharmacological ‘silver bullet’.

Simply speaking, the huge rise in obesity is down to the over consumption of calories and inadequate physical activity. In practice, this is due to the increasingly sedentary nature of life in western societies. This is especially obvious in Japan, as the increasing westernisation of diet has led to a sharp increase in the prevalence of obesity.

Unpleasant side effects are one of the reasons why take-up of these drugs don’t reflect the rise in obese people. It is also due to a perceived lack of efficacy, in some part at least due to inflated expectations of weight loss on the part of the patients and unwillingness to change their lifestyle. Ms. Rossikhina says, “Patients who are motivated to lose weight usually comply with treatment. However, problems commonly occur in maintaining the weight loss and behaviour modification essential to keep the excess weight off.”

“Key opinion leaders spoken to by Datamonitor suggested that if patient expectations are managed and physicians take time to explain the ways to increase the tolerability of the drugs to the patient, they are less likely to give up the drug after a few months without having achieved any meaningful results,” she adds, “While it is common in Europe not to acknowledge obesity as a disease and to classify anti-obesity medication as ‘lifestyle drugs’, and consequently not reimburse the use of such drugs, in the UK the patient only needs to pay the standard prescription charge for obesity medication.“

Further Reading: Commercial and Pipeline Perspectives: Obesity