2023-08-13 05:26:00
Obesity, a chronic disease affecting millions of people around the world, might be overcome by a new generation of drugs.
By HR with AFP
© MATHIEU THOMASSET / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
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Et if a drug might effectively fight once morest obesity? A new generation of weight loss products would indeed be studied with great hope by laboratories. Because obesity can be the cause of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, certain cancers and complications such as in the case of Covid-19.
Difficult to treat, it is expensive for health systems. Its causes are not only related to lifestyle but can be influenced by genetics. If prevention and medical care do not improve, the World Obesity Federation predicts that by 2035, half (51%) of the world’s population will be overweight or obese. And according to his calculations, the global economic impact would be just as devastating: it might exceed 4,000 billion dollars a year.
From the first generation of weight loss treatments developed until the 1960s, obesity rates have steadily risen and research has also come a long way.
New options
In addition to being effective once morest diabetes, the recent family of anti-obesity drugs leads to much greater weight loss than the drugs available until now and with less severe side effects (nausea, diarrhea). It also shows a benefit on cardiovascular risks. This therapeutic class mimics a hormone secreted by the intestines (GLP-1) to signal the brain to feel full following ingesting food.
Champions in this segment, the American Eli Lilly and the Danish Novo Nordisk saw their sales take off in the second quarter thanks to their increasingly popular molecules to stimulate weight loss. Stock market investors strongly appreciated.
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Eli Lilly had scored a point at the end of April when he confirmed that his anti-diabetic blockbuster, marketed under the name of Mounjaro (tirzepatide), also contributed to weight loss (more than 15%).
Given the size of the market – 40% of adults suffer from obesity in the United States – a possible green light for Mounjaro by the end of the year, this time once morest obesity, by the American Agency drugs (FDA) would be a commercial boon for the group. Its Mounjaro sales approached $1 billion in the second quarter alone.
“The therapy is likely to prove to be a popular alternative to bariatric surgery, as Mounjaro is shown to cause equivalent weight loss,” said Akash Patel, pharmaceutical analyst at GlobalData.
A significant demand
For Novo Nordisk, the future looks just as bright: this week, a study showed that its obesity treatment, Wegovy (semaglutide), whose sales more than quadrupled in the second quarter, reduced the risk of obesity by 20%. ‘cardio vascular accident.
Potentially enough to convince insurers across the Atlantic to cover these treatments that respond to real health problems and not just the desire to lose weight.
But one of the main barriers to patient access to GLP-1 drugs is the cost, however, underlines the American Pharmacists Association, knowing that obesity must be monitored over the long term.
It costs more than 10,000 dollars a year for this subcutaneous injection administered once a week.
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A way to reduce this price but also to simplify the taking of the drug would be to develop tablets to be swallowed every day, according to experts. A path on which Novo Nordisk is well advanced in its clinical studies.
Eli Lilly and his compatriot Pfizer are also looking to develop this type of oral solution.
The stakes are high: according to Morgan Stanley, the global market for obesity treatments might represent 54 billion dollars by 2030.
Investors know it: the stock market index of obesity (Solactive Obesity Index), which tracks the performance of companies positioned in services for obese people, is trading at more than 448 dollars (as of August 11, 2023) once morest 100 dollars at the beginning of 2011 .
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