STAT+: Eli Lilly shares fall as competitor Novo notches coverage win for obesity drug
Eli Lilly shares dropped Thursday as Novo Nordisk notched a coverage win for its obesity drug, a sign of the competition in the weight loss field
Shares of Eli Lilly dropped in pre-market trading Thursday, as competitor Novo Nordisk secured a major win on insurance coverage of its obesity drug and as Lilly reported first-quarter earnings that fell short of what investors wanted to see.
CVS Caremark, the largest pharmacy benefit manager in the U.S., announced Thursday that starting in July, Novo’s weight loss treatment Wegovy will be the preferred GLP-1 medicine on its largest commercial formularies, likely making Wegovy more accessible to patients than Lilly’s Zepbound.
The obesity market has been dominated by the two companies, and in recent months, investors were viewing Lilly as having an edge, with Zepbound leading to greater weight loss than Wegovy and with Lilly having what look to be more promising injectable and oral candidates in its pipeline. But the CVS news is a significant step for Novo, as both companies have been trying to broaden insurance coverage, a key hurdle for wider usage.
