Nearly $3.8 billion was earned by Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly and Co. in the third quarter for their glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs to treat obesity. Novo’s GLP-1 drug, Wegovy (semaglutide), approved by the U.S. FDA in June 2021, had sales of DKK17.3 billion (US$2.5 billion), while Lilly’s Zepbound (tirzepatide), which is a GLP-1 and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide dual agonist FDA-approved in November 2023, posted sales of $1.26 billion for the quarter.

While there is tremendous enthusiasm for GLP-1 drugs for use in obesity, and 80% of the U.S. population is eligible to use the therapies, tremendous obstacles continue to block their access. The blockages include high prices that consumers currently cannot afford coupled with employer health plans that don’t offer the new treatments. A panel discussing the future of GLP-1s at the BioFuture 2024 conference in New York said the next five years will see enormous changes in the way these drugs are prescribed by physicians and used by patients.

After missing out on the glucagon-like peptide 1 obesity market, Sanofi SA is prospecting for next-generation drugs and is making a strategic equity investment in Resalis Therapeutics Srl, providing the Italian biotech with funding to take its lead program RES-010 through to phase II.

For once, the U.K.’s health technology assessment body, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), has no reservations about the cost effectiveness of a new drug and is recommending Eli Lilly and Co.’s obesity therapy, Mounjaro (tirzepatide), for use in the National Health Service (NHS).

South San Francisco-based Septerna Inc. filed an S-1 with the U.S. SEC to conduct an IPO on Nasdaq about two years and eight months after launching operations with a $100 million series A led by Third Rock Ventures. The company is focused on G protein-coupled receptor oral small molecules derived from its Native Complex Platform, aimed at treating diseases within the endocrinology, immunology and inflammation, and metabolic diseases realms.

In one of the top series A financings in biopharma history, new company Kailera Therapeutics Inc. emerged with $400 million raised and a pipeline of next-generation assets to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Given the demand for Ozempic and Wegovy and the revenue the GLP-1 drugs are generating for Novo Nordisk A/S in the U.S., a lot of generic companies are clamoring to cash in on the drugs’ current popularity. And there are some U.S. lawmakers more than willing to oblige.