A new study published in Nature Nutrition & Diabetes estimates the economic burden associated with obesity on major US industries to have been in excess of $347bn in 2023.
Published on 4 December 2024, the study considered economic and health data from national surveys to describe a population of 158 million American employees working in the country’s seven major industries. By modelling the productivities and costs associated with healthy weight, overweight, and obese Americans, the authors projected that average weight loss from 5%—25% among workers would yield five-year medical savings of $153.3bn—$326.1bn, respectively.
The authors calculated an average annual cost of $6,472 per obese employee and $1,244 for those overweight. The chief causes were identified as excess medical cost, decreased productivity, worker absenteeism, and disability payments. In the paper, authors stated their results “highlight the need for resources dedicated to treatment and prevention, which can result in reduced medical expenses and improved productivity.”
The study was authored by analysts at GlobalData, the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology.
The significant economic burden of obesity demonstrated coincides with a ballooning of the obesity medicines sector in recent years, spearheaded by glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RAs) from biopharma giants Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. While the industry as a whole has seen a mild decline in revenues in 2023, GlobalData analysis shows leading companies in the obesity space boast high revenue growth, 31.3% and 19.6% for Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, respectively.
Leading the charge are Novo’s diabetes and obesity drugs Ozempic and Wegovy (semaglutide), estimated by GlobalData to bring in global 2024 revenues of $17.8bn and $8.4bn, as well as Lilly’s diabetes and obesity drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound (tirzepatide), projected to generate $11.8bn and $5.4bn, respectively. Lilly’s Zepbound has recently taken precedence, eliciting 47% greater weight loss than Wegovy in the Phase III SURMOUNT-5 trial (NCT05822830).
Chasing an anti-obesity market estimated to grow to $30bn by 2030 across the seven major markets (France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, UK, and the US ), other biopharmas like AstraZeneca, Amgen, and Roche are also pursuing metabolic therapies. A high unmet clinical need is further fuelling interest in oral GLP-1RAs to replace current injected formulations, with Phase III candidates Rybelsus and NN-9932 from Novo and orforglipron from Lilly aiming at approval.
On 26 November, the Biden administration made moves to open the growing potential market for such therapies by proposing an expansion of Medicare and Medicaid access to GLP-1RAs to recipients with obesity alone, an estimated 42% of the US population.
Elsewhere, however, there remains resistance to metabolic therapies. The UK government announced it will limit access to Mounjaro starting next year. The drug is recommended for those with a body mass index (BMI) above 35, which would cover 3.4 million people from the adult population.
However, patients who meet additional criteria for the “highest clinical need” will be prioritised by the UK NHS, which would cover approximately 220,000 patients in the three-year rollout period.
