Ed Silverman, a senior writer and Pharmalot columnist at STAT, has been covering the pharmaceutical industry for nearly three decades. He is also the author of the morning Pharmalittle newsletter and the afternoon Pharmalot newsletter.

For the first time, the World Health Organization has added various high-cost treatments for diabetes and cystic fibrosis to its list of essential medicines, a move that patient advocates hope will usher in a new era of more accessible drugs to countless people in low- and middle-income countries.

First published in 1977, the list is used by governments as a guide to improving supply chains and controlling costs. In years past, adding a drug has helped boost access for people in poorer countries, such as for HIV treatments in the early 2000s. The list has been adopted in more than 150 countries and now includes a total of 523 essential medicines for adults and 374 for children.

The latest version added Eli Lilly's Mounjaro and Novo Nordisk's Ozempic to treat type 2 diabetes in conjunction with cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, or obesity. Both drugs belong to a class of medicines known as GLP-1s. The same companies also sell two other such drugs that have been approved by health regulators for combating obesity.