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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Science
Julia Kollewe

Weight-loss race: how switch from injections to pills is expanding big pharma’s hopes

A pharmacist displays a box of Wegovy pills
The Wegovy pill got off to a strong start in January, with health analysts calling it ‘the fastest drug launch ever’. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

“I just felt slow: I want to be able to do anything my kids want to do and not have weight be a factor. Even a ride or a water park – things have weight limits,” says Melody Ewert, 44, from Minnesota.

Ewert has just switched from Eli Lilly’s Zepbound weekly injection to Novo Nordisk’s new daily Wegovy pill. Analysts believe the arrival of easy-to-take tablets could push weight-loss treatments further into the mainstream in a year that has been described as “pivotal” for the booming anti-obesity market. The new pills, like the jabs, mimic the gut hormone GLP-1 that regulates appetite.

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