The obesity rate in the US fell in 2023 as GLP-1s go mainstream
Research published in the last week revealed that for the first time in more than a decade, obesity rates among US adults fell slightly last year, decreasing from 46% in 2022 to 45.6% in 2023. While we might need a few more years of data to conclusively tie these results to the rise of semaglutide drugs like Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, it feels impossible to ignore the timing, with Novo’s sales booming in recent years and hitting a record ~$10 billion in its latest quarter.
Sales of these GLP-1 treatments — drugs that mimic the effects of blood-sugar-regulating hormone GLP-1, a feature originally intended for diabetes care but which also happened to cause weight loss in test subjects — have increased by almost 6x since the start of 2018. To effectively market both of the major positive side effects of GLP-1 treatments, Novo Nordisk separated its semaglutide brands into Ozempic (for diabetes) and Wegovy (for weight loss). Sales of each have soared, helping the Danish company unseat luxury giant LVMH as Europe’s most valuable company.
See the full article here.