Obesity
Roche and Zealand Pharma announced last month that their amylin analog petrelintide elicited a 9% placebo-controlled weight reduction at 42 weeks—falling far below analyst and investor expectations.
Two of the biggest insurance providers have expressed reluctance to participate in the government’s BALANCE program that would have made GLP-1 drugs more affordable to patients.
While Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill reached more than 3,000 patients in its first week on the market, analysts at RBC Capital Markets said a direct comparison of the two figures could be misleading given the shorter data collection time for Foundayo.
Obesity-focused Kailera Therapeutics debuted on the Nasdaq Friday after raising a record $625 million, beating Moderna’s $600 million from 2018.
More patients on Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide lost over 5% of their lean mass versus those on Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide, according to a study that has yet to be peer reviewed.
Right after the FDA flagged safety concerns for Eli Lilly’s newly approved obesity pill, the pharma posted diabetes data demonstrating a clean safety profile and revealed plans to seek approval in the indication.
Commitments in obesity- and diabetes-focused deals reached $22 billion in the first quarter of 2026—already eclipsing last year’s total of $20.3 billion, according to a new J.P. Morgan report.
The FDA is asking Eli Lilly to submit cardiovascular and liver safety data from an ongoing Phase 3 trial of Foundayo by July.
Johnson and Johnson kicked off first-quarter earnings season with a “modest” beat and an ambitious goal; Replimune failed again to gain approval for its advanced melanoma therapy, as analysts tout increased accountability brought by the FDA’s new policy of publicizing complete response letters; and Revolution Medicines’ pancreatic cancer candidate doubled survival in one of cancer’s most intractable foes.
With many overseas patients preferring orals to injectables, Eli Lilly has filed for approval of orforglipron in more than 40 countries and is building manufacturing capacity to support the obesity drug.
PRESS RELEASES