Lilly Steps In as Global Shortage of Weight-Loss Drugs Intensifies

On November 8, Eli Lilly announced: The GLP-1 drug tirzepatide has been approved by the FDA for weight loss, with the brand name Zepbound, and is expected to be launched in the United States by the end of 2023.

Once the news came out, it quickly caused a stir in the industry.U.S. media The Wall Street Journal gave a full-page reportOn that day, the market value of Eli Lilly and Company rose to 587.7 billion US dollars, approaching the 600 billion US dollar mark.

The approval of a new indication for Eli Lilly's product will directly impact Novo Nordisk, which has exclusively dominated the weight-loss market for over two years.

Zepbound is the first weight-loss drug to reduce body weight by an average of more than 20% in Phase III clinical trials and is also a technically advanced GLP-1R/GIPR dual-target agent.Moreover, Eli Lilly priced Zepbound at $1,060 per month, which is nearly 20% cheaper than the $1,349 for semaglutide.。

Mike Mason, President of Eli Lilly's Diabetes and Obesity Division, explained:Pricing Decision Aims to Improve Access to Weight-Loss Drugs。

In terms of production capacity deployment, unlike the preparation process of semaglutide which mainly uses bio-fermentation, tirzepatide adopts a fully chemical method of solid-phase synthesis + liquid-phase synthesis. This means that self-built production capacity will be faster, and batch outsourcing will also be easier.

In May last year, tirzepatide was launched for the indication of lowering blood sugar. Although it was also limited by production capacity, its sales growth rate still far exceeded the same period level of semaglutide after its launch.Becoming the fastest drug to climb in history。

As of October this year, based solely on the indication for lowering blood sugar,The weekly prescription volume of tirzepatide has increased to 250,000, accounting for 1/5 of the total prescriptions for GLP-1 class drugs.At the Q3 earnings call on November 1, Eli Lilly's senior management introduced: In terms of the hypoglycemic version, tirzepatide has already taken a step ahead of semaglutide in being removed from the U.S. FDA drug shortage list.

By the end of this year, after the launch of the weight-loss version, the construction of factory and production facilities near North Carolina and Indiana will also come to a pause, with production capacity doubling compared to a year ago. In contrast, Novo Nordisk's newly built Danish plant will not begin operations until 2025.

Outside of self-built factories,Eli Lilly and Company started looking for production capacity around the world at an early stage.In China, domestic contract manufacturers have secured large orders for tirzepatide. In September this year, Wuxi AppTec announced that its subsidiary, HuaQuan Pharmaceuticals, would increase peptide production capacity by 60%, likely in preparation for tirzepatide.

However, Novo Nordisk is still leading the market. Even after Eli Lilly's new indications were approved, Novo Nordisk's stock price remained stable. On the contrary, the "weight-loss drug concept stocks" that were hyped up in China plummeted across the board.

The so-called "weight-loss drug concept stocks" in China are more accurately described as "semaglutide concept stocks." Examples include upstream CDMO companies such as NPT Biotech and Hanmi Pharmaceutical.Mainly centered around semaglutide and liraglutide.. And until now, no company has explicitly stated that it has received an order from Novo Nordisk.

It is clear that the global trend in the weight loss drug market is changing.

Author: Li Ao

Editor | Jiang Yun, Jia Ting

Operation | Zhu Ying

Image source: Visual China

Statement: Original content by Jian Shi Ju, please do not reprint without permission.

Foreign Enterprises Sign Contracts with JD Health at CIIE; Digitalization is the "Golden Key" to Off-Hospital Markets

Bayer Global Layoffs, Cites Corruption Crackdown Impact as "Bayxin Tong" Sales in China Decline

New Development | Livzon Group Terminates Plan to Spin Off and List on the Growth Enterprise Market