Faster, please.
In the most recent Capital Letter, I wrote about GLP-1s and their economic implications. It’s a story of scientific ingenuity, capitalism, and the power of competition. Put them together and prices go down even as efficacy improves.
As I noted:
Novo and Eli Lilly are trying to develop versions of their weight-busting products in tablet form, as are Roche and AstraZeneca, among others. . . .
Nanny-staters would prefer the overweight and the vain to eat less (and better) and work out more, a decision they would be helped to make by sugar taxes, restricting two-for-one meal deals, banning “junk” food advertising and the like. This is not only not something that a government that knows its place should not do, but it is also something that, however good in theory, will not work in the real world. GLP-1 based treatment, however, does. . . .
But the scolds won’t go away anytime soon. Bariatric surgery looked and doubtless felt like the punishment that gluttons “deserved.” By comparison, injections and some possible side-effects look like soft options, and, if an anti-fat pill becomes available, well. . . .
And, sure enough, from the Wall Street Journal yesterday:
Eli Lilly said a third late-stage study of its experimental anti-obesity pill hit its key goals, paving the way for the drugmaker to begin regulatory submissions.
Eli Lilly on Tuesday said the Phase 3 study of orforglipron in adults with obesity or overweight and type 2 diabetes met the primary and all key secondary endpoints at all three doses, showing significant weight loss, meaningful A1C reductions and improvements in cardiometabolic risk factors at 72 weeks.
The Indianapolis company said study participants lost an average of 22.9 pounds, or 10.5% of their body weight, on the highest dose, with A1C, a measure of blood-sugar levels, reduced by an average of 1.8%.
Eli Lilly said orforglipron also showed a safety profile consistent with injectable GLP-1 medicines, such as its blockbuster Mounjaro and Zepbound drugs.
Eli Lilly said it now has the full clinical data package it needs to initiate global regulatory submissions for orforglipron this year.
Faster, please.