What’s News in Earnings: Who Is Winning the Obesity-Drug Arms Race?

财经新闻速递:谁在肥胖药物竞赛中脱颖而出?

WSJ What’s News

2025-11-05

7 分钟
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Bonus Episode for Nov. 4. The weight-loss-drug arms race is only heating up, as Novo Nordisk attempts to snatch drugmaker Metsera away from Pfizer. But can either company compete with Zepbound seller Eli Lilly? WSJ reporter Peter Loftus discusses what earnings from Big Pharma, including AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck, say about the future of the industry and how companies are responding to President Trump’s drug-pricing plans, including TrumpRx. WSJ Heard on the Street columnist David Wainer hosts this special bonus episode of What's News in Earnings, where we dig into companies’ earnings reports and analyst calls to find out what’s going on under the hood of the American economy. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter. Further Reading: Novo Nordisk Sweetens Offer for Metsera - WSJ Pfizer Sues Seeking to Block Novo Nordisk’s Effort to Undo Weight-Loss Drug Deal Why Pfizer Can Still Prevail in the Obesity Fight With Novo Nordisk The Day Pharma’s Weight-Loss Gold Rush Intensified Pfizer Profit Falls Amid Lower Covid-19 Drug Demand Novo Nordisk Seeks to Outmuscle Pfizer With $9 Billion Bid for Metsera Novo Nordisk to Shake Up Board After Obesity-Market Challenges Mounjaro Powers Eli Lilly to Bumper Quarter of Earnings AbbVie Lifts Profit Outlook as Sales Rise Bristol Myers Squibb Profit Soars, Raises Revenue Guidance Merck Profit Rises on Strong Keytruda Demand GSK Lifts Guidance After Specialty Medicines Boost Sales Novartis Expects to Ride Out Patent Losses With Sales, Profit Growth Ahead Biogen Cuts Full-Year Earnings Guidance, Despite Third-Quarter Profit Rise J&J Lifts Full-Year Sales Outlook, Fueled by Pharma, Med-Device Gains Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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单集文稿 ...

  • Hey listeners, it's Tuesday, November 4th.

  • I'm David Wehner for The Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News in Earnings,

  • our look at some of the biggest themes standing out this earnings season.

  • In the pharma world, there's Eli Lilly, and then there's pretty much everyone else.

  • Lilly's weight loss powerhouse continues to reshape the industry,

  • with sales of its GLP-1 drugs like Zephound Soaring, and rivals scrambling to respond.

  • In the latest twist and the sign of just how fierce the new obesity drug arms race has become,

  • the maker of Ozempic, Novo Nordisk,

  • is now trying to snatch away another company in the space, Metzera, from Pfizer.

  • At the same time,

  • farmers' negotiations with President Trump over drug prices and import tariffs are hanging over the sector,

  • testing how companies will deliver growth,

  • even as blockbusters like Ketruda from Merck edge toward patent expiration,

  • while others like Humira from Abvi already have.

  • We're joined by Wall Street Journal reporter Peter Loftus who's been tracking pharma for us.

  • Peter, there's a lot of hype baked into this whole GLP One boom.

  • What did we learn from Eli Lilly's earnings last week?

  • Is this a sustainable growth story or are we in kind of a bubble?

  • Well,

  • we learned from Eli Lilly that when you have a couple of drugs that are in demand