ResMed moves to address ‘educational gap’ on PAP devices, GLP-1s

SAN DIEGO – In the wake of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of Zepbound to treat moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, ResMed is ramping up its education to high-volume prescribers of GLP-1 drugs to reiterate that PAP therapy remains the gold standard. 

The FDA announced in late December that it had approved Eli Lilly's Zepbound (tirzepatide) for the treatment of moderate to severe OSA in adults with obesity. It’s approved for use in combination with a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity. 

“We are looking forward to addressing the educational gap on the prevalence and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea with continuing medical education or CME programs that we are aiming specifically at primary care physicians,” said Mick Farrell, chairman and CEO, during a conference call to discuss the company’s financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2025 . “And we're especially targeting those who are currently high-volume GLP-1 prescribers. They will be the frontline for the patients that pharmaceutical companies will attract as they ramp up their own consumer advertising throughout calendar year 2025 and beyond.” 

Farrell pointed out that, in the lead up to Zepbound’s launch to consumers, Eli Lilly has issued educational documents for the treatment of OSA that follow guidelines from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine stating PAP therapy is the gold standard and PAP devices have the highest efficacy when used as directed. 

Farrell also pointed out that the AASM in January issued a quick reference guide reiterating those guidelines and suggesting that weight-loss drugs may be useful as an “adjunctive or combination therapy.” 

“Our experience with bariatric surgery patients these last two-plus decades and now with these latest generation GLP-1s these last five-plus years is that when someone loses weight, that doesn't change their age, that doesn't change their gender (and) that doesn't change, most importantly in this context, their craniofacial anatomy,” he said. “These are key risk factors for sleep apnea.” 

ResMed’s research – it’s now tracking 1.2 million patients – also continues to show that patients who have had a prescription for a GLP-1 drug and who also have a prescription for PAP therapy are more than 10% more likely to start PAP therapy and, one year later, to have a 3% or more higher adherence rate, Farrell said. 

“One thing is clear, the real-world evidence shows that the combination of a GLP-1 prescription and a PAP prescription is powerful for patients with obstructive sleep apnea,” he said.  

In addition to GLP-1 drugs, ResMed sees consumer wearables like Samsung’s Galaxy Watch, which has de novo clearance from the FDA for detecting OSA, as a megatrend that could increase the patient funnel for PAP therapy. At the recent CES show, the company had its products in the “massive” Samsung booth, Farrell said. 

“Samsung was touting their new Galaxy Watch's sleep apnea detection capability and illustrating the link between their Galaxy Watch ecosystem and ResMed's market-leading products for the treatment of sleep apnea,” he said.  

Despite device sales and masks sales that both increased 12% in the U.S., Canada and Latin America in the second quarter, it’s too early to point to these megatrends as materially increasing the patient funnel for PAP therapy, Farrell said. 

“It will have a durable impact over the coming one, three, five years and beyond,” he said. “So, it's not a one-and-done; it's not a single-step change. It's a gradual improvement in that patient flow. I think we're in the very early innings of the flow of extra patients from GLP-1s and from consumer tech.”