Three years ago, drugmakers and laboratories around the world responded to the pandemic with Covid-19 vaccines. Now that the urgency has faded, they’re collectively turning attention to an older pandemic: obesity.
Companies including Eli Lilly & Co. and Pfizer Inc. are tailgating Novo Nordisk A/S, the first mover into the market with its highly effective Wegovy injection that mimics a weight-related hormone called GLP-1. Amgen Inc. was also among companies presenting at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference this week with a potential obesity entrant. The companies are aiming for the market with versions that either melt off more pounds, have less frequent dosing or don’t require injection.
The search for a safe, effective slimming drug been long and torturous. Prescriptions for the combination of fenfluramine and phentermine, known popularly as fen-phen, soared to more than 18 million in 1996 after the success of a small study, then crashed after it was linked to heart disease and deaths. Now, drugmakers say, better science and promising weight-loss results from the new class of repurposed diabetes drugs are spurring a roaring comeback for medicines to treat obesity.
