Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) has released findings from a real-world study indicating that sustained treatment with Zepbound (tirzepatide) among adults aged over 55 with obesity or overweight was associated with lower healthcare costs compared with people who did not receive treatment.
The research, published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, examined claims data covering 15,843 adults who began using Zepbound between November 2023 and September 2025. Participants had an average age of 64.5 years.
Each person receiving Zepbound was matched with a control participant who had not been treated with a GLP-1 or GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist medication.
Healthcare costs fall after six and 12 months
Researchers applied two analytical approaches to assess differences in monthly healthcare expenditure, excluding the cost of Zepbound itself.
After six months, estimated healthcare costs among Zepbound users were between 12% and 15% lower than those of untreated individuals. This represented estimated savings of between $145 and $181 per patient each month.
The difference became more pronounced after 12 months, when estimated monthly healthcare costs were between 25% and 38% lower. In monetary terms, that equated to a reduction of between $319 and $607 per patient per month compared with the untreated group.
Hospital admissions and emergency visits also decline
Adults receiving Zepbound experienced lower rates of hospital admissions and emergency department visits throughout the follow-up periods.
At the same time, the treatment group recorded numerically higher rates of routine outpatient appointments and office visits, suggesting a shift in the types of healthcare services being used.
According to the study, estimated savings beginning at the six-month point approached the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge programme’s monthly treatment cost of $195 per patient.
By 12 months, the estimated reduction in healthcare expenditure had moved above that amount.
Drug costs excluded from the analysis
The researchers cautioned that the analysis did not include the cost of Zepbound itself because claims data do not provide the drug’s net price.
As a result, the reported savings should be viewed as potential offsets against the cost of Zepbound rather than evidence that treatment necessarily reduces total healthcare expenditure after the medication’s price is included.
The analysis was based on information from Komodo’s Healthcare Map, which contains de-identified claims data covering more than 330 million people enrolled in U.S. healthcare plans.
The findings provide additional real-world evidence on the potential economic impact of sustained Zepbound use, particularly among older adults with obesity or overweight, although the study’s cost estimates do not represent the complete net financial effect of treatment.
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