The launch of Eli Lilly ‘s weight-loss drug Zepbound — a key pillar of our investment thesis within the pharmaceuticals giant — goes swimmingly within the U.S., Jefferies said Friday. Weekly Zepbound prescriptions totaled 7,700 within the week ended Dec. 8, its fourth on the U.S. market, in accordance with Jefferies, which cited data compiled by health-care analytics firm IQVIA. That’s greater than Novo Nordisk ‘s Wegovy — currently the preferred obesity drug within the country — had in its fourth week after being approved in 2021, Jefferies concluded. “Zepbound has shown strong launch momentum within the weeks following its first prescription recorded,” the analysts wrote in a research note. That is an encouraging finding for investors, given it’ll be greater than a month before Eli Lilly reports earnings with formal revenue contributions from its much-hyped obesity drug. The Club holding typically reports fourth-quarter leads to late January or early February. To make sure, it has been showing up not directly in Lilly’s revenue for greater than a yr because some people have been taking Eli Lilly’s diabetes drug Mounjaro off-label for weight reduction. Mounjaro and Zepbound share an energetic ingredient called tirzepatide. Nevertheless, we have been awaiting clues on the Zepbound rollout since the drug is such a vital part to our multiyear investment in Eli Lilly. Jim Cramer has said tirzepatide — encompassing diabetes, weight reduction and possibly other treatment indications in the approaching years— could turn into the best-selling drug of all time. While Jefferies analysts are right to caution that “data over longer periods is required to construct confidence in a sustained growth trajectory,” it appears to be up to now, so good for Zepbound. Eli Lilly’s efforts to take a position heavily to expand manufacturing capability should help make sure the trajectory doesn’t stall out attributable to shortages. LLY YTD mountain Eli Lilly’s year-to-date stock performance. It took Wegovy seven weeks to succeed in Zepbound’s current weekly prescription level, Jefferies said. But Jefferies analysts caveated the comparison by noting that public awareness around obesity drugs is far higher now than it was in 2021 when Wegovy hit the market. Wegovy and Zepbound belong to a category of medication often known as GLP-1s, which mimic a hormone within the gut to regulate blood sugar and effectively suppress appetitive, contributing to weight reduction. GLP-1s first got here onto the U.S. market nearly 20 years ago as treatments for diabetes, but over the past yr their popularity has soared due, largely, to viral web posts about their weight-loss potential. There are currently 2.5 times more GLP-1 prescriptions written across diabetes and obesity than when Wegovy hit the market, in accordance with Jefferies. Weight-loss drugs received a notable mainstream endorsement earlier within the week when Oprah Winfrey said in a magazine interview she takes one. Winfrey is a longtime investor and board member of WW International , the parent company of WeightWatchers. Eli Lilly has been the worst-performing Club holding this week, with shares down greater than 5% including Friday’s 1.3% slide. The stock — amongst our biggest winners this yr — began the week under pressure following the discharge of clinical-trial data that showed patients regained weight after they stopped taking Zepbound. Despite our belief that the outcomes should help the stock , investors have up to now responded bearishly. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long LLY. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you’ll receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked a couple of stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Eli Lilly’s office in La Jolla, California.
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The launch of Eli Lilly‘s weight-loss drug Zepbound — a key pillar of our investment thesis within the pharmaceuticals giant — goes swimmingly within the U.S., Jefferies said Friday.