Drug therapy for obesity in the Russian Federation: pharmacoepidemiological study

Objective: аssessment of orlistat, liraglutide and sibutramine consumption in the Russian Federation as drugs recommended by the Russian clinical guidelines for the pharmacotherapy of obesity.Material and methods. From IQVIA database, the information was selected on retail sales and procurement of the specified drugs at the expense of the federal and regional budgets in the period of 2011–2021. The consumed volumes of each drug were recalculated into the number of defined daily doses (DDDs) for each international nonproprietary name in accordance with the World Health Organization methodology.Results. It was demonstrated that over a 10-year period there was a tendency to reduce the consumption of drugs for the treatment of obesity from 83.03 million DDDs in 2011 to 71.7 million in 2021. Sibutramine consumption dominated throughout the observation period: its share ranged from 76% to 84%. The proportion of people receiving obesity pharmacotherapy in the Russian Federation was about 0.5%. Herewith 58–66% of DDDs sales took place in 3 regions: Moscow, Moscow Region and Saint Petersburg.Conclusion. Low efficacy, high frequency of adverse reactions, frequent weight gain after discontinuation of therapy, as well as low orientation of doctors to the need for pharmacotherapy are probably the main factors determining the low prevalence of using drugs for the treatment of obesity in Russia.