With the improvement of As Eli Lilly's "Zepbound" by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on November 8th, competition with Novo Nordisk's obesity treatment "Wegovy" in Denmark is expected to heat up.

Zepbound is a product approved as a weight loss agent for the use of Mounjaro, a diabetes treatment.

Clinical results show that subjects who received Zepbound lost 22.5% of their average weight over the span of 72 weeks.

Wegovy, with its unrivaled presence in the existing obesity treatment market, showed a weight loss effect of 14.9% over 68 weeks, and Saxenda, another of Novo Nordisk's treatments, showed a weight loss effect of about 7.5% over a 56-week dose.

Eli Lilly also reportedly plans to sell Zepbound for approximately 20% less than rival Novo Nordisk's Wegovy.

Therefore, Zepbound may pose a major challenge to Wegovy's dominance in the existing weight loss treatment market to the extent that it is famous as the secret to Elon Musk and Kim Kardashian's diet.

However, studies continue to demonstrate that Wegovy has excellent efficacy in various metabolic and incurable diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, and it is known to reduce the desire for drug use as well as alcohol and cigarettes.

Recently on November 11th, Wegovy's cardiovascular disease improvement was announced at the American Heart Association(AHA) annual meeting in Philadelphia.

It was found that the Wegovy administration group reduced the risk of heart attack by 28% and the risk of progression to chronic kidney disease and death from kidney disease fell by 22% compared to the placebo administration group.

However, this doesn't mean Wegovy can't just feel safe.

Looking at Novo Nordisk's process of developing weight loss treatments, which leads to Victoza, Saxenda, Ozempic, and Wegovy, it doesn't seem easy for Novo Nordisk to maintain its position on the throne.

This is because it has improved performance by strengthening capacity or developing new drugs to meet the needs, and proved not only weight loss but also other effects.

For example, Novo Nordisk initially developed a semaglutide-based injection called "Ozempic" as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, a representative adult disease, and began selling "Wigobi" in 2021, which increased the dose of the ingredient as users showed an outstanding weight loss effect.

Therefore, Eli Lilly is also expected to do its best to improve Zepbound, develop better drugs , and reveal whether there are additional other effects through constant efforts.

Other reasons for the two companies to continue research and development are the price and side effects.

There have been reports of digestive side effects such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, and mental side effects such as depression, which can be an important factor in patients' choice of weight loss treatments.

In addition, as mentioned previously, Zepbound will be supplied about 20% cheaper than Wegovy, but the monthly administration cost is $1059.87 and $1350, which currently poses a huge financial burden for patients.

As such, the effectiveness, side effects, and price of the treatment are the most important factors in the success of the weight loss treatment market, and both companies are expected to constantly strive to be winners in this market.

This competition of good faith will continue to bring good news to patients.

Derek Hwang

Grade 11

Seoul Scholars International