Good day! An extremely popular group of weight reduction and diabetes medications continues to be difficult to search out within the United States. The dominant manufacturers of those treatments, Eli Lilly And Novo Nordiskare making progress to vary that.
But Wall Street seems more encouraged by one than the opposite.
The drugmakers provided updates on their offerings after they released their first-quarter financial results. Demand for his or her weight reduction and diabetes medications has far outstripped supply during the last 12 months, forcing the couple to take a position heavily in expanding their production.
Investors cheered Eli Lilly after the corporate raised its full-year sales forecast by $2 billion, partly on confidence that production of its weight-loss drug Zepbound, diabetes drug Mounjaro and similar drugs will proceed for the remaining of the 12 months will be increased yearly. The company calls these treatments incretin medications, which mimic certain gut hormones to suppress an individual's appetite and regulate blood sugar.
“Now that we're four months into the year, we have better insight into these capacity nodes and feel more confident,” Eli Lilly Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi told investors during an April 30 earnings call.
She noted that Eli Lilly has several manufacturing sites which might be either “ramped up or under construction,” including two sites in North Carolina, two in Indiana, one in Ireland and one in Germany. There can also be a seventh location that the corporate recently acquired from Nexus Pharmaceuticals.
Ashkenazi also highlighted the recent approval and upcoming launch of a brand new Mounjaro delivery device called the KwikPen in Europe United Kingdom, which they are saying will “unlock new supply capacity” for certain international markets. That's because Eli Lilly has been using this device for insulin for years, allowing the corporate to make use of existing manufacturing resources to make more other incretin medications.
KwikPen is a single four-dose pen that covers one month of treatment. Patients using topical auto-injectors for weight reduction and diabetes medications Go through 4 different pens every month. Asked whether the corporate would launch the device within the US, Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks told investors: “We haven't ruled it out in other jurisdictions.”
Eli Lilly expects supply of Zepbound, Mounjaro and other incretin drugs to stay “fairly tight” within the short to medium term as demand stays high, Ashkenazi said. However, she noted that Eli Lilly expects production of sellable doses of incretin drugs to be a minimum of 1.5 times higher later this 12 months in comparison with the second half of 2023 – a goal the corporate is setting for the primary time set out in February.
On the day Eli Lilly announced its earnings, the corporate's shares rose greater than 5% on the back of raised guidance and offering updates.
“While [Lilly] “As we continue to expect demand for incretins to exceed supply for the foreseeable future, the company is clearly making progress in expanding capacity and this should be reflected in accelerated volume growth throughout the year,” JPMorgan analyst Chris Schott said. last week in a research note.
Meanwhile, investors seemed less impressed with Novo Nordisk last week. The company's shares fell more than 2% on May 2 following the release of first-quarter results.
Novo Nordisk executives said in a media call that day that the company is gradually increasing production of weaker or “starter” doses of its weight-loss drug Wegovy in the U.S. after limiting its supply last May to meet demand .
About 27,000 new patients in the U.S. are now starting weekly injections each week, CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said on a media call. That's up from 5,000 per week in December.
“This is really a very nice increase in volume, as we had planned,” said Jorgensen.
He added that the company will continue to increase supply of Wegovy and its diabetes counterpart Ozempic for the remainder of the year. The company's primary focus is “ensuring continuity of take care of patients who’ve already begun treatment,” Jorgensen said.
Still, Novo Nordisk missed Wall Street's sales estimates for its weight-loss drug Wegovy, even though supply and prescriptions for the drug increased during the quarter. According to FactSet, Wegovy's revenue more than doubled to 9.38 billion Danish kroner ($1.35 billion) in the period, falling short of analysts' expectations of 10.55 billion Danish kroner ($1.52 billion). -dollars) back.
That's because prices for Wegovy and Ozempic fell in the first quarter as volumes and competition increased, Karsten Munk Knudsen, the company's CFO, told analysts in a call.
He added that this trend will continue for the rest of the year. U.S. list prices for Wegovy and Ozempic are still around $1,000 a month, but Novo is offering insurers discounts and rebates to extend coverage to more patients.
We will continue to monitor how the supply landscape changes as the year progresses. Stay tuned for our reporting.
You can send tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Annika at annikakim.constantino@nbcuni.com.
Latest technology in healthcare
Apple received US Food and Drug Administration approval for its cardiac monitoring technology on May 3.
The Agency announced Apple Watch's Atrial Fibrillation History feature can be used in clinical trials through the Medical Device Development Program. Apple's feature is the first digital health technology to qualify for the program, the FDA said.
The FDA program identifies technologies that are reliable enough to be used in a scientific research context. It is a voluntary pathway and the tools and solutions qualified under the MDDT program are then used to help evaluate new medical devices.
Apple's Atrial Fibrillation History technology will serve as such Biomarker test to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of cardiac ablation devices used to treat irregular heartbeats.
Atrial fibrillation, often called atrial fibrillation, is a type of irregular heart rhythm caused by the organ's upper chambers beating “chaotically.” Mayo Clinic. Atrial fibrillation often causes a fast, pounding heartbeat and can lead to blood clots and an increased risk of stroke or heart failure.
The disease affects each individual differently and sometimes those affected do not experience any symptoms. Still, patients with atrial fibrillation usually require treatment such as medication, therapy or surgery to prevent consequences such as stroke, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Apple's AFib History feature allows users to track how long their heart is showing signs of AFib over time Company website. The feature is not intended for anyone under 22 and users must wear their Apple Watch at least 12 hours a day, five days a week to receive quotes.
Users can also share their data with their doctors to determine the right treatments and next steps for them.
AFib History was first approved by the FDA two years ago, and Apple has also done so step by step Instructions online for patients interested in the facility.
Feel free to send tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Ashley ashley.caroot@nbcuni.com.
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