The News
Three scientists who pioneered the development of blockbuster anti-obesity drugs through analysis of the GLP-1 hormone that influences hunger won Laskar Awards, an honor often seen as a bellwether for Nobel Prizes.
“I’m happy that I’m getting awards, but what makes me even happier is that people are actually recognising my work,” said biochemist recipient Svetlana Mojsov.
Separately, shares in Novo Nordisk fell Friday after the Danish pharmaceutical giant reported a mid-stage trial of its next-generation weight loss drug, which includes the experimental compound monlunabant, found it caused mild to moderate side effects, including anxiety and sleep disturbances.
SIGNALS
Weight-loss drugs are having knock-on effects in publishing and food industries
The rise in weight-loss drugs may be driving down demand for diet books, The Economist wrote — book sales in the health and fitness category in the US have fallen by 15% since the Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy in 2021, according to research firm Circana. Publishers are trying to fight back by pushing titles focused on longevity, vitality, and women’s health, and some predict greater demand for books that explore the science behind weight-loss drugs, the outlet added. Hunger-suppressing drugs that reduce calorie intake by 20-30% daily could also see consumption of carbonated soft drinks, baked goods, and salty snacks fall up to 3% in the US by 2035, Morgan Stanley found.
Not a silver bullet for obesity
Drugs like Ozempic hold promise as tools for tackling obesity but shouldn’t be regarded as silver bullets, because “changing appetite is only part of the story when it comes to health,” and weight management is driven by social and economic factors, a nutrition expert argued in The Conversation. Multiple studies have shown that people regain weight once they stop taking the drugs, sometimes faster than it took them to lose weight in the first place, a medical expert told the BBC. This change in body composition could be worse for their long-term health than if they had simply maintained their existing weight, the outlet reported.
China and India are big markets for cheaper versions of the drugs
Chinese and Indian pharmaceutical companies are developing cheaper copies of weight-loss drugs as patents near expiry, Nature reported. The demand generated from price drops could create a “ripple effect” in which companies reduce the price of existing drugs “in anticipation of the competition,” an executive for a pharmaceutical firm headquartered in India told the publication. China, which has one of the world’s highest rates of child obesity, is a huge market for the drugs, and domestic companies are already racing to develop them, the Financial Times noted. In the meantime, however, Beijing is cracking down on unapproved knockoffs of popular weight-loss drugs being sold on platforms like WeChat amid the global supply crunch, Bloomberg reported.