
<p><strong><abbr>E</abbr>li Lilly</strong>&nbsp;is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/eli-lilly-bets-big-weight-loss-pill-with-550-million-inventory-stockpile-2025-02-20/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">stockpiling massive quantities</a>&nbsp;of an oral weight-loss drug that’s at least a year from launch, with total&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/59478/000005947825000067/lly-20241231.htm" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">“pre-launch inventory”</a>&nbsp;of nearly $550 million at Dec. 31, 2024, according to its 10-K financial statements released last week.</p>



<p>The unusual move represents a massive bet on a new once-daily pill for weight loss called orforglipron, at a time when GLP-1 drugs from Lilly and its competitor Novo Nordisk have taken the market by storm. Lilly’s tirzepatide drugs, Zepbound for obesity and Mounjaro for diabetes, both of which are administered by injection, accounted for $5.4 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter alone.</p>



<p>Orforglipron showed good results in a phase 2 trial published in the&nbsp;<em>New England Journal of Medicine</em>&nbsp;in June 2023. The highest dose of the drug resulted in&nbsp;<a href="https://investor.lilly.com/news-releases/news-release-details/lillys-phase-2-results-published-new-england-journal-medicine" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">14.7% weight loss after 36 weeks</a>&nbsp;for people who were obese or overweight. Lilly has begun stage 3 research, and CEO Dave Ricks said last month that the drug could receive FDA approval&nbsp;<a href="https://fortune.com/well/article/eli-lilly-weight-loss-pill-orforglipron-glp1-2026/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">as early as next year.</a></p>



<p>“The level of excitement here is high,” Patrik Jonsson, Lilly’s president of cardiometabolic health, told&nbsp;<em>Forbes&nbsp;</em>in an interview at the J.P. Morgan healthcare conference in January. “This could potentially be game-changing when it comes to reaching more patients across the globe.”</p>



<p>Oral medications, after all, don’t require the cold-chain storage and transportation that injectables do, and they’re less complicated to manufacture. They’re also more appealing to patients, especially those who have needle phobias.</p>



<p>What the easier production and distribution means for the price of orforglipron when it hits the market remains to be seen. On Tuesday, Lilly began selling higher doses of Zepbound in the U.S. at a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/lilly-launches-higher-dose-vials-weight-loss-drug-150-less-than-injector-pen-2025-02-25/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">discount of $150</a>&nbsp;compared to the injector pen versions, Reuters reported. Then, on Wednesday, it said that it would&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/26/eli-lilly-to-invest-27-billion-in-new-us-manufacturing.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">invest $27 billion</a>&nbsp;in four new U.S. manufacturing plants.</p>



<p>Research firm Coherent Market Insights estimates the global GLP-1 market at $25 billion in 2024 and forecasts that it will&nbsp;<a href="https://www.biospace.com/press-releases/glp-1-receptor-agonist-market-worth-55-70-billion-by-2031-coherent-market-insights" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">surpass $55.7 billion by 2031.</a></p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cellino-inks-a-deal-to-build-a-stem-cell-foundry-at-mass-general"><strong>Cellino Inks A Deal To Build A Stem Cell Foundry At Mass General</strong></h2>



<p><strong><abbr>F</abbr>or more than a decade</strong>, biotech researchers have been exploring the possibility of regenerating damaged parts of the body as a way to treat degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and type 1 diabetes. One of the most promising technologies to do so are induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which can be programmed to turn into basically any kind of cell.</p>



<p>The catch: making these cells is a labor-intensive process that can cost millions of dollars to produce tissue for just one patient. Biotech startup Cellino, cofounded in 2017 by CEO and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/pictures/5bda143431358e5b43352bd7/marinna-madrid-28-nabiha/"><em>Forbes&nbsp;</em>30 Under 30 alumna Nabiha Saklayen,</a>&nbsp;is now one step closer to scaling iPSC manufacturing. It’s building its first foundry at Massachusetts General Brigham’s Gene and Cell Therapy Institute. Cellino has raised a total of $100 million in venture funding at a valuation of $140 million as of January 2022, according to Pitchbook.</p>



<p>The foundry will use the automated systems that Cellino has developed (<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2024/09/10/this-startup-aims-to-regenerate-damaged-tissues-with-the-help-of-ai-and-lasers/">read more about the tech here</a>) to generate iPSCs from patients’ blood or skin cells on-site. The company estimates that use of the foundry, which is set to go online next year, could reduce costs by a factor of ten. More importantly, a scalable, consistent process will make it easier to manufacture new treatments that can go through the clinical trial process and eventually be commercialized, CEO Saklayen told&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>.</p>



<p>“With high quality cells, we can start to see what the readout is in patients and know how potent the medicine is,” she said. “That’s hard to tell if the manufacturing isn’t standardized. So that’s what I’m really excited about.”</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-biotech-and-pharma"><strong>BIOTECH AND PHARMA</strong></h2>



<p>Last December, the FDA&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-mesenchymal-stromal-cell-therapy-treat-steroid-refractory-acute-graft-versus-host" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">approved</a>&nbsp;Mesoblast’s drug Ryoncil, which is the first time a mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapy has received a green light from the agency. MSCs are adult stem cells found in bone marrow that can turn into different types of cells. Ryoncil is used to treat children with severe graft-versus-host disease (GVH) following a stem cell transplant, which is typical for leukemia patients. It’s also the first approved treatment for children with this disease who don’t respond to steroids.</p>



<p>Mesoblast CEO Silviu Itescu told&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;last week that the company plans to begin commercial sales of the drug this quarter, with the remaining obstacles being setting pricing with payers and shipping product to hospital. “We have inventory for at least the next couple of years for children with acute GVH,” he said. The company is also pursuing clinical trials for adults with GVH as well as for the use of its stem cell products for children with severe Crohn&#8217;s disease, he said.</p>



<p>The publicly traded company’s shares are down 21% so far this year, at a recent $16.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-digital-health-and-ai"><strong>DIGITAL HEALTH AND AI</strong></h2>



<p>AI biotech startup Genesis Therapeutics&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250220803826/en/Incyte-and-Genesis-Therapeutics-Announce-Strategic-AI-focused-Research-Collaboration" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">entered</a>&nbsp;an agreement with pharmaceutical company Incyte to use Genesis’ AI drug discovery platform, GEMS, to discover small molecule drug candidates against two undisclosed targets. Under the terms of the arrangement, Incyte will pay Genesis $30 million upfront and up to $295 million in milestones per target over the course of the collaboration, plus royalties. Incyte, which has a $14 billion market cap, focuses on oncology, immunology and dermatology and other unmet needs. This is the third deal for Genesis since September, following similar collaborations with pharmaceutical company Gilead and AI powerhouse Nvidia.</p>



<p>“We found it was a really natural fit to combine GEMS and its ability to drug challenging targets with some of the needs Incyte had for some of its pipeline programs,” Genesis CEO Evan Feinberg told&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>, adding that another reason he wanted to work with Incyte is its “track record of pioneering completely new areas of medicine.”</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-medtech"><strong>MEDTECH</strong></h2>



<p>Medical device maker Medtronic (market cap $116 billion) gained FDA approval for a new&nbsp;<a href="https://www.medtechdive.com/news/Medtronic-DBS-BrainSense-Parkinsons-FDA-approval/740757/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">self-adjusting deep brain stimulation device</a>&nbsp;for people with Parkinson’s disease, a nervous system disorder that affects movement. The BrainSense Adaptive device works similarly to a cardiac pacemaker, but for the brain, using a surgically implanted neurostimulator to transmit electrical signals to the specific areas of the brain affected by the disease. Medtronic said that the approval was the first for an adaptive deep brain stimulation device for Parkinson’s, and that it would be the largest ever commercial rollout of a brain-computer interface technology. Some 1 million people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with the debilitating neurological disorder.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-public-health-and-hospitals"><strong>PUBLIC HEALTH AND HOSPITALS</strong></h2>



<p>Measles keeps spreading in West Texas. There are now&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/25/health/measles-texas-cases/index.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">124 confirmed cases,</a>&nbsp;most of them in West Texas where the outbreak began. The West Texas outbreak is the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/west-texas-measles-outbreak-spreads-amid-vaccine-hesitancy-in-some-communities" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">largest the state has seen in 30 years,</a>&nbsp;and highlights the difficulties convincing people to get vaccines in the current environment. A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2025/02/26/texas-measles-outbreak-first-death-reported-as-over-120-infected/">first death from the disease</a>&nbsp;was reported on Wednesday morning. A separate, potentially related, measles outbreak in New Mexico has now grown to nine cases. The outbreak has also spurred parents who’d previously chosen not to vaccinate children to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/texas-measles-outbreak-grows-parents-vaccinate-rcna193637" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">change their minds</a>.</p>



<p>Plus:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katiejennings/2021/10/12/meet-the-sudanese-doctor-who-turned-nurse-staffing-on-its-head/">Healthcare hiring unicorn Incredible Health</a>&nbsp;is expanding from nurses to technicians, a workforce that makes up 60% of all healthcare workers and is now facing a shortage. The San Francisco-based startup will also go beyond hospitals to home health organizations and ambulatory care centers. Incredible Health,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyfeldman/2021/10/12/next-billion-dollar-startups-2021/">an alum of the 2021 Forbes Next Billion-Dollar Startups list,</a>&nbsp;has placed more than 1 million nurses in 1,500 hospitals across the country since it launched in 2017. It has been testing hiring of technicians in nine states, including California, New York and Texas, and plans to complete the national rollout by year end.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-deal-of-the-week"><strong>DEAL OF THE WEEK</strong></h2>



<p>Eikon Therapeutics, which is developing a pipeline of drugs to treat cancer, announced&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eikontx.com/news/eikon-therapeutics-secures-350-7-million-series-d-to-advance-clinical-stage-programs-and-future-pipeline/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">it has raised</a>&nbsp;$350 million, bringing its total funding to more than $1.1 billion. The Hayward, Calif.-based company, which was worth $3.7 billion before the latest investment, according to PitchBook, declined to disclose its new valuation. Eikon plans to use the new funds to support the ongoing development of its drug candidates, which target advanced melanoma as well as brain, ovarian, breast, prostate and pancreatic cancer. To facilitate its drug development, the company uses its own&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2022/01/06/this-startup-raised-over-500-million-to-find-better-drugs-with-nobel-prize-winning-microscopes/">advanced fluorescent microscopy technology</a>, which enables it to observe how different substances interact on the cellular level in real time. Eikon CEO Roger Perlmutter was previously head of R&amp;D at Merck.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-we-re-reading"><strong>WHAT WE’RE READING</strong></h2>



<p>A newly discovered coronavirus in bats&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00503-7" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">has the potential to spill over</a>&nbsp;into humans using the same pathway as the virus that causes Covid-19.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyfeldman/2025/02/20/this-ceo-became-a-billionaire-by-trying-to-bring-back-the-woolly-mammoth/">Billionaire Colossal Biosciences CEO</a>&nbsp;Ben Lamm sees uses for human health in efforts to resurrect the woolly mammoth.</p>



<p>At least three DOGE employees&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/doge-is-inside-the-national-institutes-of-health-nih/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">have access to&nbsp;</a>the National Institutes of Health’s systems that control finance, budget and procurement.</p>



<p>How&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/health/dr-oz-medicare-finances-conflicts.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Dr. Oz’s millions collide with Medicare</a>, including as a relentless promoter of controversial private Medicare Advantage insurance plans for older Americans.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-rehires-staff-medical-devices-division-mass-layoffs-rcna193501" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">FDA rehires staff</a>&nbsp;to its medical devices division after mass layoffs by Elon Musk’s DOGE. Meanwhile, the new administrator in charge of the FDA’s food division appears to have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/food-safety-donald-trump-jr-kyle-diamantas-hunting-buddy" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">no relevant experience</a>&nbsp;beyond hunting with Donald Trump Jr.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.grubstreet.com/article/bird-flu-crescent-duck-farm-doug-corwin-long-island.html?origSession=D250225bemIKt3OSACQ4UVJI%2FXSXx3Mv2q6AsYYvGKfm92CLFQ%3D&amp;_gl=1*1yjo6ki*FPAU*NDQ1NDkyOTg1LjE3NDA1MDQ1MDI.*_ga*MTYzNjUxMjM4OC4xNzQwNTA0NTAx*_ga_DNE38RK1HX*MTc0MDUwNDUwMS4xLjEuMTc0MDUwNDU1NC4wLjAuOTU3NzI1OTA2*_fplc*Wkp5NFh0JTJCZHQ3cjNybnFnRXp0RDA2alVvWXVjejJWREZSVjdxZzNJUUdCTGFFSTlFNFdFaUtHQmpFVTclMkJaQnplRlNkTkVjN0ZPdU95YVFHa0d3dk16OGxXd1JNZGthN0xQaFZSRTVQUXhZVCUyQkQ2R3RjQ3ElMkZKa2pKM3FjM3clM0QlM0Q." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Bird flu wiped out</a>&nbsp;Doug Corwin’s century-old Long Island duck farm, forcing him to cull the entire 100,000 flock.</p>



<p>Two people, one in Wyoming and one in Ohio, have been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/24/bird-flu-hospitalizations-wyoming-ohio" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">hospitalized</a>&nbsp;with avian flu.</p>



<p>New research finds that hormone therapy&nbsp;<a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/transgender-youth-have-better-emotional-health-after-taking-hormones-new/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">significantly improves</a>&nbsp;the emotional health of young transgender people.</p>



<p>Health clinic workers brush up on constitutional protections for their patients as&nbsp;<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/california-health-clinics-immigration-raids-trump-constitutional-rights/?utm_campaign=KHN%3A%20First%20Edition&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_PHm1EgQV5IFp-ZPdE0o5DQu7-uyQDe8A5XyGfJW5DfWXtePxvtJB7OXmVMT9PJMDISwEK6RFmV5AxsHlTOnI9JipW2w&amp;_hsmi=348996172&amp;utm_content=348996172&amp;utm_source=hs_email" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">immigration raids loom.</a></p>


Indianapolis – April 2016: Eli Lilly and Company V

Eli Lilly Has Stockpiled Nearly $550 Million Of Its Next Obesity Drug


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Drugmaker Eli Lilly has launched a new website specifically for prescribing weight loss drugs through a telehealth service less than a month after the company&#8217;s new injectable, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/britneynguyen/2023/12/05/fda-approved-zepbound-weight-loss-drug-available-in-us-pharmacies/?sh=2cf010533603">Zepbound</a>, became available in U.S. pharmacies for overweight or obese adults.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Called&nbsp;<a href="https://lillydirect.lilly.com/pharmacy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LillyDirect</a>, the new website is the first of its kind from a pharmaceutical company and will allow telehealth providers to prescribe GLP-1 agonist drugs for weight loss, like Lilly’s Zepbound and Mounjaro or Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy.</p>



<p>The doctors working with LillyDirect will be able to prescribe any FDA-approved weight loss drug, but only patients who are prescribed the company&#8217;s Zepbound medication will be eligible for the at-home delivery service, Lilly CEO David Ricks told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/weight-loss-drug-online-website-eli-lilly-rcna131597" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NBC News.</a></p>



<p>The website can be used by people who have a BMI of at least 30, or of at least 27 if they also have at least one weight-related medical condition, according to NBC, and will also serve patients with diabetes and migraines.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/health/weight-loss/diet-companies-offering-weight-loss-medications/">Other websites</a>, like WeightWatchers, Noom and Found, also offer online prescriptions for semaglutide, the generic name for the medication that lowers the blood sugar and suppresses appetite, but LillyDirect is the first pharmaceutical company to do so.</p>



<p>Eli Lilly has said it is against the use of Mounjaro and Zepbound for &#8220;cosmetic weight loss,” Reuters&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/lilly-says-it-stands-against-cosmetic-use-its-weight-loss-drugs-2024-01-04/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>, and supports use for their approved purposes.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>$1,000. A month&#8217;s supply of injectable weight loss drugs&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/weight-loss-drugs-who-what-are-they-good-2024-01-02/#:~:text=Still%2C%20the%20potential%20costs%20are,deny%20use%20of%20the%20medicines." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">can cost</a>&nbsp;patients more than $1,000 when it is not covered by insurance.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>The popularity of using diabetes drugs for weight loss has been on the rise since 2021, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2023/09/27/ozempic-prescription-jump-varies-across-us/70932858007/#:~:text=In%20a%20study%20out%20Wednesday,was%20approved%20for%20weight%20loss." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">USA Today</a>, spurred by the approval of Novo Nordisk&#8217;s Wegovy that year. The drugs change how bodies respond when blood sugar rises and their active ingredient, semaglutide, increases the feeling of satiety to reduce appetite. A 2022 Mayo Clinic&nbsp;<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2796491" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study found</a>&nbsp;that people who received weekly semaglutide injections for six months lost, on average, 27 pounds, but experts warn the medications are meant for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/omerawan/2023/06/19/why-ozempic-may-not-be-right-for-you/?sh=4911850149e1">long term use</a>&nbsp;and should not be seen as a quick solution to shed extra pounds.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



<p>The widespread use of drugs in the GLP-1 agonist class for weight loss has been criticized by some scientists and former users. Lab studies have linked the medications with thyroid tumors in rodents,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/type-2-diabetes/expert-answers/byetta/faq-20057955" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to</a>&nbsp;the Mayo Clinic, and the long-term effects of the medications are still largely unknown. The manufacturers of Ozempic and Mounjaro, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/08/14/what-to-know-about-gastroparesis-lawsuit-claims-ozempic-and-mounjaro-causes-the-severe-stomach-disorder/?sh=541d728f64a0">were sued</a>&nbsp;this summer over claims the medications cause gastroparesis, a severe stomach disorder. Some former users, including TikTok influencer Remi Bader, have been honest about severe weight gain after stopping the medication.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/remi-bader-shares-ozempic-experience-rcna65527" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bader said</a>&nbsp;the drug made her binge eating “so much worse” and said she gained back twice the weight she lost after getting off Ozempic. Actress&nbsp;<a href="https://people.com/health/stars-whove-spoken-about-ozempic-use-and-what-they-said/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amy Schumer said</a>&nbsp;she felt &#8220;so sick&#8221; while on weight loss medication.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



<p>The popularity of the diabetes and weight loss drugs in recent years has sent pharmaceutical stock prices through the roof. Shares of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/08/08/weight-loss-drug-frenzy-drives-eli-lilly-and-novo-nordisk-stock-to-record-highs/?sh=1bc2706370ab">hit record highs&nbsp;</a>in August following a surge in sales and promising clinical trials, respectively. Eli Lilly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.insideindianabusiness.com/articles/lilly-overtakes-rival-to-become-worlds-most-valuable-drugmaker" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">has become</a>&nbsp;the most valuable pharmaceutical company in the world, surpassing Pfizer&#8217;s market cap in 2022 and Johnson &amp; Johnson last year, and the success of drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro are expected to help the company &#8220;dominate the landscape in 2024,&#8221; according to a note from BMO analyst Evan Seigerman.</p>


Tag: Eli Lilly

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

Eli Lilly Has Stockpiled Nearly $550 Million Of Its Next Obesity Drug

Pharmaceutical First: Eli Lilly Website Will Prescribe Weight Loss Drugs Through Service