The enormous demand for slimming treatments and an expansion of production capacity are causing sales of slimming injections to explode. Experts estimate that these drugs could generate global annual sales of around $150 billion (€138 billion) by the early 2030s. Just a year ago, top sales estimates were around $100 billion.
“It’s very unusual for a drug to capture the imagination of millions of people,” said Michael Kleinrock, senior research director at market research institute IQVIA. Last year, global spending on obesity drugs reached $24 billion, and IQVIA estimates it could reach $131 billion by 2028.
Real hype about diabetes meds
There has been a real hype for some time about obesity drugs, which are said to have helped Tesla boss Elon Musk and reality star Kim Kardashian lose weight. The Wegovy slimming injection from Novo Nordisk ensures a feeling of fullness for longer and, according to research data, in combination with a change in diet and exercise, leads to an average weight loss of about 15 percent.
The drug belongs to the class of so-called GLP-1 agonists, which were originally developed for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. In addition to Novo Nordisk, the American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly is also in the running with Zepbound. Additional tools are in development.
People are willing to pay for it
Most health insurers do not reimburse the new therapies. Wegovy is currently not available in Austria as it has not yet been approved for the Austrian market. The medicine therefore has to be imported via a roundabout route – at high costs. Ozempic, on the other hand, is a medicine that requires a doctor and the costs of which are only reimbursed under certain conditions by social insurance for people with diabetes mellitus type 2 and obesity. Outside of these criteria, a prescription is required; a “private prescription” can incur monthly costs of 140 to 300 euros.
Also in Germany, slimming injections are completely excluded from reimbursement by statutory health insurers, because medicines for regulating body weight are considered so-called lifestyle medicines. The treatment costs a few hundred euros per month, but according to market researcher Kleinrock, more and more people are willing to pay for the medicines out of their own pocket. The drug manufacturers are hoping for reimbursement in the future and have published further research data to prove the health promotion and medical benefits of the weight loss injections.
Demand drives more production
According to Kleinrock, whether the sales volume of 131 billion dollars will be reached also depends on how long patients use the slimming syringes and whether the drugs will also be used in the future to treat other diseases and can therefore be reimbursed by health insurers. The expansion of production, which manufacturers are currently working on, should also provide a significant boost.
BMO Capital Markets now estimates that annual sales of weight-loss drugs will reach $150 billion by 2033, up from a previous forecast of more than $100 billion in early 2030. Leerink predicts annual sales of as much as $158 billion by 2032. “There is a high consumer demand and unmet medical need,” said David Song, portfolio manager of the Tema Obesity & Cardiometabolic ETF. “More than 100 million Americans are obese, and even more are overweight. There are estimates that nearly a billion people worldwide are obese.”
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
