Lilly’s DTC Obesity Push, Layoffs, and an Eye on Ocular Diseases

Eli Lilly offers weight loss drug Zepbound directly to consumers while Novo Nordisk continues to struggle with supply challenges for its own GLP-1s. Meanwhile, gene therapies for retinal diseases target competitive market, and layoffs persist.

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Eli Lilly shook up the weight loss market again last week, announcing plans to sell single-dose vials of its blockbuster GLP-1 drug Zepbound directly to consumers. Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk said Monday that it expects the shortage for the lower doses of its own GLP-1 therapy Ozempic to persist into the fourth quarter of 2024.

This week, we take a closer look at eyes, where gene therapy is breaking through against wet AMD, a common cause of blindness—potentially significantly minimizing the number of treatments required by patients—and cell therapy is making strides against another common foe: dry eye disease.

Lastly, an unfortunate trend—layoffs—continues to play out, with BioMarin, Genentech and Astellas Gene Therapies all parting with staff members.

Heather McKenzie is senior editor at BioSpace. You can reach her at heather.mckenzie@biospace.com. Also follow her on LinkedIn.
Jef Akst is managing editor of BioSpace. You can reach her at jef.akst@biospace.com. Follow her on LinkedIn and Twitter @JefAkst.
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