glp-1 drugs

Last year Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical company behind Ozempic and Wegovy, overtook LVMH to become Europe’s most valuable company. And the pull for Acquired to finally tackle healthcare (18% of US GDP!) became too strong for us to resist. While we didn’t know much about Novo Nordisk before diving in, our first thought was, “wow, seems like these new diabetes and obesity drugs mean serious trouble for big insulin companies.”

And then… we realized that Novo Nordisk IS the big insulin company. And in a story befitting of Steve Jobs and Apple, they’d just disrupted themselves with the drug equivalent of an iPhone moment. Once we dug further, we quickly realized this company has it all: an incredible 100+ year history filled with Nobel Prizes, bitter personal rivalries, board room dramas, a generation-defining silicon valley innovation, lone voices persevering against all odds — and oh yeah, the world’s largest charitable foundation at its helm. Tune in for one incredible story!

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Links:

• Chart: US Healthcare Spend by Category
• Chart: US Distribution and Reimbursement System (for pharmaceutical drugs)
• Chart: Insulin Supply Chain
• YouTube Talk: What People Get Wrong about the Finances of the Drug Industry
• Alex Telford: The pharma industry from Paul Janssen to today: why drugs got harder to develop and what we can do about it
• Out-of-Pocket Health: Obesity Drugs
• Out-of-Pocket Health: US Healthcare System Problems
• All episode sources

Carve Outs:

• Noxgear Tracer 2 running vest
• Drops of God
• Wool by Hugh Howey
• Mere Mortals at San Francisco Ballet
• Blackberry

‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

For anyone interested in investing in the health-care space, JPMorgan's annual Health Care Conference has become one of the most important events of the year. We were not able to get to San Francisco this year, but one of our favorite Odd Lots guests, James van Geelen of CitriniResearch.com, was in attendance. He called into this week's episode of Lots More to tell us what the leading players in health care and medical technology are buzzing about right now — and he confirms that AI and GLP-1 weight loss drugs are at the top of everyone's mind."

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Drugs like Ozempic are revolutionizing the treatment of obesity. The medications, originally used to treat diabetes, keep gaining attention as celebrities and other influencers describe taking them to lose weight quickly.

Dani Blum, a reporter for The Times, tells the story behind the drugs and describes some of the ramifications of using them.

Guest: Dani Blum, a reporter for Well at The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Ozempic can cause major weight loss. What happens if you stop taking it?
• Some people taking the drugs can experience such intense lack of appetite that they become malnourished.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

There's a new class of weight-loss drugs in town. GLP-1 medications including Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro were created to treat diabetes but have since been found to suppress appetites and induce substantial weight loss. It's a big deal for the companies which make them, with shares of Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly all soaring in recent weeks. But the drugs could end up having a much broader economic impact too. On this episode, we speak with James van Geelen of Citrinitas Capital, about the second-order effects of effective weight-loss drugs. He talks us through how he's evaluating the potential of the new meds and how he approaches possible 'mega-trends' like GLP-1 or AI.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.