When it comes to healthcare, one of the biggest stories of the year has been of weight loss drugs — Ozempic and Wegovy. The blockbuster drugs, most recently described by Oprah Winfrey as a ‘gift’ propelled the 100-year-old Danish pharma company Novo Nordisk’s market cap to more than Denmark’s domestic economy.
And while these drugs, also endorsed by the long-running weight loss program, Weight Watchers, might have been the biggest news stories of the year, they seem to be just getting started.
A few things we can expect in 2024 from these drugs could include wider prescriptions, as reports indicate that drugs such as Wegovy could cut the risks of cardiovascular incidents and strokes. Also, the drugs could be embraced by more doctors as a way to tackle wider medical conditions such as weight gain from psychiatric conditions and even menopause.
Next year is also likely to bring more clarity on the drugs being studied for other conditions, from addiction to kidney disease, and maybe more details on risks such as what happens when one stops taking the drugs. Is it a lifelong prescription, and maybe there are other side effects.
A few other monitorables will be competition, as Eli Lilly’s drug Zepbound, approved in 2023, which is rivaling the effects of bariatric surgery could pick up pace. Not to mention progress on the pill version of the drugs and, lastly, an increase in manufacturing to tackle the supply shortages due to burgeoning demand.
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