INCREASING demand for obesity drugs was in the spotlight at the world's largest trade show for the pharmaceutical services industry in Spain last week, as it fuels a boom for firms that fill and assemble the self-injection pens, Reuters has reported.
A surge in sales of Novo Nordisk's drug Wegovy, which launched in the United States in mid-2021, has propelled the Danish drugmaker to become Europe's most valuable company.
US rival Eli Lilly has become the world's most valuable healthcare firm this year as demand for its diabetes drug Mounjaro surges ahead of approval for its use as a weight-loss treatment in the US, expected by the end of this year.
Amid a global obesity crisis, some analysts predict the market for weight-loss drugs could be worth US$100b (A$171b) by 2030.
Some companies, like West Pharmaceutical Services, whose share price is up 37% year to date, are already providing components for the injection pens in order to capitalise on the opportunity.
Other companies specialising in parts of the manufacturing process for the injections such as Medtronic are vying to get a bigger foothold by scaling up their capacity.
Wegovy and Mounjaro, both administered once weekly, are part of a class of drugs called GLP-1 receptor agonists originally developed for type 2 diabetes, which suppress appetite.
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