Aetna's pharmacy change notice for July 1, 2025 lists Zepbound under "Endocrine and Metabolic, Antiobesity" as a removed drug, with orlistat, Qsymia, Saxenda, and Wegovy named as the formulary alternatives
First-Pass Metabolism: Even if medication reaches the small intestine, the liver metabolizes much of what does get absorbed before it can reach systemic circulation
Take home message Three oral GLP-1 medications are relevant to UK consumers in 2026
Usually, you have an insurance provider
Those on insulin secretagogues without careful glucose monitoring
Under severe inflammatory conditions such as sepsis, or when induced by exogenous lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration, there is a systemic increase in GLP-1 that is dependent on IL-6 (111, 181)