Obesity, diabetes treatments fuel Eli Lilly growth and spark bidding war

By TOM MURPHY Associated Press Robustness Writer The territory for obesity and diabetes treatments remains scorching hot funneling billions in sales to Eli Lilly and fueling a bidding war over another drugmaker Related Articles US stocks slip as Wall Street sees both good and bad in Big Tech profits US-China relations Why your financial planner might tell you to keep the mortgage China agrees to purchase million metric tons of U S soybeans annually treasury secretary says Massport says business as usual at Boston Logan after Ayanna Pressley blames GOP for disruptions GMC Canyon is the King of Mid-Size Trucks Lilly commented Thursday that its top-selling drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound brought in more than billion combined during the lately completed third quarter That made up over half of the drugmaker s billion in total sales Separately Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk communicated plans to buy Metsera Inc in a deal that could be worth up to billion That came more than a month after U S drugmaker Pfizer Inc made a nearly billion bid for Metsera which has no drugs on the arena but is advancing several prospective oral and injectable treatments Popular treatments labeled GLP- receptor agonists are fueling the soaring sales and deal interest They work by mimicking hormones in the gut and the brain to regulate appetite and feelings of fullness But they don t work for everyone and can produce side effects that include nausea and stomach pain Supplies of the drugs have improved this year and certain insurance coverage is growing That helps improve access to drugs that can cost around a month without coverage That can put them out of reach for plenty of patients U S sales of Lilly s weight-loss remedy Zepbound nearly tripled to billion in the third quarter Meanwhile revenue from the diabetes drug Mounjaro which has been on the area longer doubled to billion thanks to development outside the U S Combined the drugs have brought in nearly billion in sales so far this year for Indianapolis-based Lilly That surpasses the entire company s revenue total from The drugs helped Eli Lilly and Co record a billion profit in the third quarter and deliver a better performance than Wall Street expected Novo Nordisk commented it will pay in cash for each Metsera share and could pay an extra if the company meets particular drug rise milestones The drugmaker already has the obesity and diabetes treatments Wegovy and Ozempic on the arena That combined total of more than doubles the closing price of Metsera shares on Sept the last trading day before Pfizer made its offer Pfizer Inc is known for the COVID- vaccine Comirnaty and the medication Paxlovid among other drugs But the New York drugmaker decided to take another stab at obesity treatments months after ending growth of its own drug