Latest news with #obesitydrugs
Bloomberg
25-06-2025
- Health
- Bloomberg
UK Probes Genetic Link Between Obesity Drugs and Pancreas Damage
The UK is asking patients whose pancreas became dangerously inflamed after taking obesity drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound to come in for tests to understand whether there's a genetic risk for the condition. The country's drug regulator, alongside Genomics England, is investigating whether a person's genetics might make them more vulnerable to acute pancreatitis — a potential serious side effect of Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly & Co. 's blockbusters.
Telegraph
24-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Shoppers buying fewer groceries amid surge in weight-loss drugs
Shoppers are buying fewer groceries as the surge in weight-loss jabs hits demand for chocolate, crisps and biscuits. Grocery sales were down by 0.4pc in the four weeks to June 15, in the clearest sign yet that obesity drugs are causing households to buy fewer unhealthy snacks. Supermarkets are now entering 'new territory', according to Kantar analysts, who highlighted how the number of people using weight-loss drugs in Britain has doubled in the past year. Fraser McKevitt, Kantar's head of retail and consumer insight, said: 'Four in 100 households in Great Britain now include at least one GLP-1 drug user. 'That's almost twice as many as last year so while it's still pretty low, it's definitely a trend that the industry should keep an eye on as these drugs have the potential to steer choices at the till.'
Wall Street Journal
17-06-2025
- Health
- Wall Street Journal
Fresenius Medical Care CEO Says Company Could Benefit From Obesity Drugs
Fresenius Medical Care could end up benefiting from blockbuster obesity drugs, according to its chief executive, contrary to concerns that such treatments could be negative for the dialysis specialist. 'I believe [the effect] is neutral to positive, not negative,' Fresenius Medical Care's Chief Executive Helen Giza said in an interview.
Globe and Mail
06-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Novo Nordisk Stock: Is It Still a Smart Buy?
Much like the long-term users of its most popular product, Novo Nordisk 's (NYSE: NVO) stock has slimmed down considerably of late. Share prices of the company, which developed and sells weight loss drug Wegovy, have fallen nearly 18% in price since the start of this year. Popularity attracts competition, and investors are growing concerned that the Danish pharmaceutical giant won't be able to compete. I've been a Novo Nordisk bull for quite some time now, and I wouldn't be as spooked by the situation. Here's why. An increasingly crowded field Novo Nordisk got a two-year-plus head start in the white-hot obesity drugs market, when Wegovy became the first GLP-1 drug specifically approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for that indication in mid-2021. Novo Nordisk's Ozempic was first, but it was used off-label as a weight-loss drug, and had only initially been approved as a diabetes treatment and kidney disease treatment. It's easy to believe in a company when it's riding high and unopposed. But late in 2023, a new entrant was approved -- mighty American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) with its own GLP-1 treatment, Zepbound -- giving Novo Nordisk one of the strongest competitors imaginable. Almost certainly, this won't continue to be a two-car race for long. Other companies, both large and small, in the healthcare field are pushing hard to develop their own obesity drugs, with varying degrees of success. Eli Lilly alone is an intimidating presence. A mainstay on the American pharmaceutical scene, it's grown to a massive size, to the point where it's the most valuable pharmaceutical company in the world by market cap. It can leverage its vast resources to develop and market any kind of medicine it wants, and in the obesity segment, it was already nearly there with Zepbound's FDA-approved-for-diabetes sibling drug, Mounjaro. Since then, it seems Zepbound has carved out a significant market share from Wegovy. Precise figures are hard to come by, but according to a Goldman Sachs analysis recently reported by Barron's, Novo Nordisk is clinging to a 51% share of the roughly $28 billion market. Eli Lilly holds the rest. Fragmentation and setbacks Like other pharmaceutical industry pundits, Goldman Sachs is predicting that once other obesity drugs are developed successfully and approved, the market will fragment. That's a wholly believable prediction given the zeal and urgency behind many of those efforts. Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk has taken a series of competitive blows that reduced its lead. A shortage of semaglutide -- the main ingredient of Wegovy -- led the FDA to allow compounding pharmacies to make copies of the molecule, essentially producing new competition. Although the shortage is officially over, it showed that Novo Nordisk would be vulnerable if such a situation reoccurred. Another of the numerous fresh setbacks was a head-to-head clinical trial conducted by Eli Lilly, pitting Zepbound against Wegovy. Last December, the results of the study indicated notably more significant weight loss for participants using Wegovy. One internal development also dented investor sentiment on Novo Nordisk, and that was the company's announcement in mid-May that long-serving CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen was stepping down. When enterprises are humming along pleasantly, they rarely experience a top leader's departure. Fighting back Novo Nordisk isn't just absorbing hurtful blows, though; it's been busy shoring up its defenses. As 2024 came to a close, it scooped up contract drug manufacturer Catalent, bringing Wegovy production more under its direct control. That $16.5 billion deal wasn't cheap by any yardstick, but if the new asset is managed well, it should be more than worth the cost ultimately. Novo Nordisk is also keeping up the pace with its own development activities, attempting to succeed with new medications and/or other indications for Wegovy. Its next-generation obesity treatment CagriSema was essentially a flop. However, the company has already had success winning FDA approval for the versatile Wegovy to treat liver disorder metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and it's developing the drug for a clutch of other ailments. It also has other medications for different disorders in its pipeline. Meanwhile, a score of researchers modeling the future of the obesity market feel that sales of such drugs will blast through the roof. Projections vary, but a typical one is the latest from Morgan Stanley. In May, the veteran investment bank upped its estimate for the market's peak (predicted to occur in 2035) to $150 billion, well up from its previous assumption of $105 billion. The former number is more than 6 times the $24 billion estimated sales of 2024. The very encouraging news for Novo Nordisk bulls like myself is that even if the market gets highly fragmented with numerous competing products and loses significantly more share -- unlikely, given its first-mover prominence and the strength of the Wegovy brand name -- it'll still be a player in a huge market. Yes, competition can be tough. There are a lot of prizes in this game, and more players are entering it. But I think this original player will manage to hold on and thrive, and I continue to consider Novo Nordisk stock a buy. Should you invest $1,000 in Novo Nordisk right now? Before you buy stock in Novo Nordisk, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Novo Nordisk wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. 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Irish Times
26-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Ousted Novo Nordisk CEO pays for investors' inflated hopes
The sudden departure of Novo Nordisk chief executive Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen comes not amid scandal or strategic calamity, but a less fashionable misstep: disappointing the stock market. Once Europe's most valuable firm, Novo's shares have halved since last summer. Investor expectations, it seems, are harder to manage than blood sugar. Jørgensen was the architect of Novo's transformation from a diabetes stalwart into a world leader in obesity drugs. READ MORE Sales of Wegovy , its blockbuster weight-loss injection, soared. So did the company's valuation: by June 2024, Novo was worth over $600 billion and traded on 56 times earnings. Such altitude brings thinner air. Any stumble, and gravity does the rest. And stumble it did. Competition from Eli Lilly intensified. Cheaper, compounded versions of GLP-1 drugs proliferated in the United States. Clinical trials for Novo's next generation of treatments disappointed heady expectations. None of these are fatal, but they are enough to turn a growth fairytale into a more familiar pharmaceutical plotline: one of pricing pressures, pipeline uncertainty, and restive shareholders. Jørgensen was surprised by his ousting, as were analysts and investors. There was no hint of change during Novo's earnings call just a week earlier. Whatever his mistakes, it is hard to pin Novo's malaise solely on his leadership. When euphoria untethers a stock, a bloodletting often follows. That Jørgensen became the fall guy may say more about investor nerves than executive negligence.
