A pharmacist shows bins of Ozempic, a semaglutide injection drug used for treating sort 2 diabetes made by Novo Nordisk, at Rock Canyon Pharmacy in Provo, Utah, U.S. March 29, 2023.
George Frey | Reuters
Norway’s large wealth fund, the world’s largest, touted the likelihood that Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk and U.S. rival Eli Lilly might be on the right track to grow to be the primary healthcare members of the trillion-dollar membership.
The feedback come as the 2 corporations are seen as the first beneficiaries of skyrocketing demand for diabetes and weight reduction medication.
Novo Nordisk, Europe’s largest agency by market capitalization, on Wednesday reported stronger-than-anticipated 2023 earnings, as gross sales of its vastly fashionable drug Wegovy continued to soar. The agency’s market valuation surpassed $500 billion on the information.
The largest pharmaceutical firm on this planet by market worth, Eli Lilly presently stands at roughly $612 billion.
Gemma Game, head of well being care sector technique at Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), stated Tuesday that the launch of protected and efficient weight reduction medication final yr had helped to make Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly family names.
The model names of particular person medicines, similar to Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy, and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, have grow to be acquainted to many.
“The story is far from over,” Game stated. “For the billion [of] people living with obesity around the world today, this is really exciting. Fewer than a fraction of 1% have been treated so far. So, we’re early on in the launch trajectory.”
NBIM, the world’s largest single inventory market investor, holds a 2.5% stake in Novo Nordisk and a 0.98% stake in Eli Lilly, in keeping with LSEG knowledge.
Eli Lilly and Company, Pharmaceutical firm headquarters in Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain.
Cristina Arias | Cover | Getty Images
Obesity, which has vital well being implications, is linked to round 200 totally different medical situations.
NBIM’s Game stated she could be carefully monitoring knowledge on whether or not the anti-obesity medication generally known as GLP-1 agonists may additionally successfully deal with continual kidney illness, obstructive sleep apnea and Alzheimer’s illness.
“We’ve just heard about the ‘Magnificent Seven,'” Game stated throughout a information convention, referring to a bunch of mega-cap U.S. tech shares. “Perhaps in the future we’ll be talking about Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk as the world’s first trillion-dollar health care companies.”
U.S. tech giants together with Microsoft, Apple and Amazon are all valued at over $1 trillion by market capitalization, whereas Meta’s market worth not too long ago surpassed the milestone for the primary time since 2021.
Barclays stated final yr that it expects the worldwide weight reduction drug market to develop to about $100 billion by the top of the last decade.
“If anything, we feel more confident about those forecasts,” Emily Field, head of European pharma fairness analysis at Barclays, advised CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange” on Jan. 8.
“What Novo was able to firmly establish last summer, and we saw more data in the fall, was that not only do you lose weight, but it can have a major benefit on your cardiovascular health,” she added.
“And this year, we are looking to see updates on all these other areas of where losing weight can lead to other benefits, such as in kidney disease and also potentially liver disease.”
Source: www.cnbc.com”