Therapeutics That Made Waves in 2024

The following article is from the desk of Dr. Darya Inocencio, PharmD, RPh, Nimble's Director of Pharmacy Operations.

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As a community pharmacist, you’re the expert in not just the hundreds of most commonly dispensed medications but also every medication — whether it’s on your shelf or not. With this, you navigate therapeutic conversations with your patients on a variety of treatments and disease states every day, and may have noticed some newly emerging trends in your discussions. 

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Let’s explore some of these medication types and why they’ve gained attention in 2024.

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GLP-1s 

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It’s no wonder that GLP-1s make the top of our list. Since the general population’s discovery of their weight loss superpowers, their off-label use has skyrocketed and will continue to follow this trajectory in the foreseeable future. 

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As the number of patients using both branded as well as compounded generic GLP-1s increased, so did your need to navigate a variety of questions perhaps not on your radar in the past. These include maintenance doses, BUDs, and long-term effects. 

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Additionally, with newly utilizing patients, you had to learn to navigate countless insurance and prior authorization questions, seamlessly steer through discount coupons, and become in tune with the FDA shortage list announcements. 

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The RSV Vaccine

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As Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) continues to be a cause of severe lung disease, populations at risk began to benefit from the RSV vaccine approvals emerging through 2023 and 2024. With a new vaccine on the market, patients approached their most trusted healthcare providers — pharmacists — with their questions and concerns. 

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Not only did you need to navigate through approaching the new patient population with an available vaccine to protect them from potentially fatal complications, but your role has expanded to addressing countless misconceptions and theories about vaccines that continue to emerge on social media. 

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Monoclonal Antibodies

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Monoclonal antibodies continue to be a top-of-mind treatment for a variety of disease states, as we see multiple newly approved “MAbs” enter the market in 2024. Navigating conversations about these treatments requires the presentation of immunology and antibodies in layman's terms. 

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Pharmacists are skilled at having meaningful conversations with patients while ensuring that communication is presented in a simple, easy-to-understand manner. When conducting discussions about MAb treatments, make it your priority to ensure that patients understand the information about these medication types, and walk away informed and empowered.