More than half of all adults in the U.S. are eligible for semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus), researchers estimated.

Among 25,531 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2015 to 2020, 8,504 were eligible for semaglutide, representing an estimated 136.8 million adults across the country. All met the criteria for at least one of three indications that the drug is currently approved for -- diabetes, weight management, or secondary cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention, reported Dhruv S. Kazi, MD, MSc, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and colleagues.

"This exceeds the number of adults eligible for statins (approximately 82 million), currently the most prescribed pharmaceuticals among U.S. adults," they wrote in a research letter in JAMA Cardiology.

The findings were also presented at the American Heart Association annual meeting.

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