Lilly, Novo Nordisk battle for weight-loss market lands at the pharmacy shelf
Lilly, Novo Nordisk battle for weight-loss market lands at the pharmacy shelf
LONDON/NEW YORK, Aug 5 (Reuters) – As Eli Lilly’s (LLY.N) weight-loss drug Zepbound gains ground in the U.S. against Novo Nordisk’s (NOVOb.CO) Wegovy, some doctors say their guiding principle for writing prescriptions is simple: which drug can my patients actually get at the pharmacy?
Lilly has quickly built a roughly 40% market share in the U.S. since it launched Zepbound in December, hitting 130,000 prescriptions for the week ending July 19, compared to 200,000 for Wegovy, according to IQVIA data published in analyst notes.
Data from separate clinical trials showed Zepbound leads to slightly higher weight loss on average than Wegovy, prompting some patients to seek the Lilly treatment. But both companies have been unable to produce enough of the medicines, taken weekly by injection, to meet unprecedented demand.
“The reality we live in right now is that we are beholden to these supply issues,” said Dr. Eduardo Grunvald, an obesity medicine physician at University of California, San Diego.
Five U.S. doctors specializing in obesity told Reuters they prescribe whichever of the two drugs is more likely to be available at the time, even if that means a patient has to switch between them, to ensure continued treatment.
Investors will be focused on supply updates from Novo and Lilly when the two companies report quarterly results this week.
“While we will do our best to support those who want to start taking Wegovy, it is important to recognize that overall demand will continue to exceed supply and some patients may still have difficulty filling Wegovy prescriptions,” Novo said in an update on its website.
Both companies have announced plans to spend billions of dollars to boost manufacturing by expanding factories, building or buying new ones and seeking more deals with contract drug manufacturers.
They are also launching the treatments in new countries, including Britain, Germany, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for Lilly, and Australia, Canada and Spain for Novo. But the U.S. market, where more than 70% of adults are obese or overweight, is the most lucrative by far.
