Zepbound sales double, tariffs could hit Ozempic, Pfizer on RFK Jr.

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Image for article titled Zepbound sales double, tariffs could hit Ozempic, and Pfizer on RFK Jr.: Pharma news roundup — Graphic: Images: Hims & Hers, Bloomberg / Contributor, Steve Christo - Corbis / Contributor, UCG / Contributor

Sales of Eli Lilly’s (LLY) blockbuster weight-loss drug Zepbound doubled in the fourth quarter year over year, despite missing the company’s initial sales expectations. Novo Nordisk (NVO), the maker of the popular GLP-1 medications Wegovy and Ozempic, said potential tariffs on Europe proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump could affect its business. Meanwhile, Pfizer (PFE) CEO Albert Bourla told investors on Tuesday that he is “cautiously optimistic” about collaborating with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is expected to become the next head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Check out those stories and more pharmaceutical news highlights from this week.

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Big drama around the Hims & Hers Super Bowl ad is making it’s way to the FDA

Hims & Hers offers compounded semaglutide for $199 a month.

A pharma industry group is urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to block what it calls a “dangerous” Super Bowl ad from the digital healthcare company Hims & Hers (HIMS), promoting an off-brand version of Ozempic. “This is a clear attempt by industry groups to cancel an advertisement that directly calls out how they are part of a system that fails to prioritize the health of Americans,” Hims & Hers said in a statement to Quartz.

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Zepbound sales keep soaring, even as weight loss drug growth slows

An Eli Lilly & Co. Zepbound injection pen arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Thursday, March 28, 2024.

Sales of Eli Lilly’s blockbuster weight-loss drug Zepbound surged in the fourth quarter despite missing the company’s initial sales expectations. Zepbound sales reached $1.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared with $176 million during the same period in 2023 — when it first launched. Despite impressive sales, Eli Lilly previously warned investors that growth for the medication didn’t meet its initial high expectations this past quarter. The company revised its fourth-quarter guidance last month, citing weaker-than-expected demand.

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How Trump tariffs could affect weight loss drugs

Ozempic is medicine for adults with type 2 diabetes . Wegovy is prescribed for long-term weight loss in adults and children. Both contain the active ingredient semaglutide, on January 13, 2025, in Sydney, Australia.

Novo Nordisk, the maker of the popular GLP-1 medications Wegovy and Ozempic, said potential tariffs on Europe imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump could affect its business. Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen told reporters during a press conference Wednesday that the company was “not immune” to potential tariffs. Still, he remains confident that the Danish pharma giant is in a “good position to meet the demands of the new [U.S.] administration.”

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The Ozempic boom is slowing down

Sales of Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy doubled in the fourth quarter, but the Danish pharmaceutical giant warns that sales growth for all its drugs — including Ozempic — is expected to slow in the coming year. Novo Nordisk reported that full-year sales of all its drugs grew 26% to $40.5 billion. However, the company projects that sales growth in 2025 will slow down to between 16% and 24%.

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Big Pharma is staying quiet on Trump’s China tariffs

Signage outside Merck & Co. headquarters in Kenilworth, New Jersey, U.S., on Monday, Jan. 25, 2021.

Big Pharma is downplaying — for now — the potential negative impacts of President Donald Trump’s China tariffs on their industry. Merck (MRK) chief financial officer Caroline Litchfield told investors Tuesday during an earnings call that the company expects “a very immaterial impact” from the tariffs. The tariffs did not come up at all during Pfizer or Amgen’s (AMGN) earnings calls on Tuesday.

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Pfizer’s CEO is ‘cautiously optimistic’ about RFK Jr. as Trump’s health secretary

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla addresses the audience as part of a session on AI during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 23, 2025.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told investors Tuesday morning that he is “cautiously optimistic” about working with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the expected next head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Bourla was asked during a call with investors how the company plans to work with Kennedy — given his views on vaccines and skepticism of the pharma industry. The Senate Finance Committee advanced Kennedy’s nomination on Tuesday.

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Trump’s tariffs could exacerbate drug shortages and raise prices, industry warns

Pharma industry groups are sounding the alarm, warning that President Donald Trump’s tariffs could worsen drug shortages, drive up prices, and push generic manufacturers out of the U.S.

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Big Pharma has a big Super Bowl dilemma

Snow falls on Super Bowl LIX signage on the outside of Caesars Superdome on January 21, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana

Big Pharma often turns to NFL games to hawk their blockbuster treatments, but drug makers have typically been hesitant to advertise during the big game. This hesitation could mean pharmaceutical companies are missing out on a major opportunity to connect with viewers, according to a new analysis by the TV outcomes firm EDO.

Zepbound sales double, tariffs could hit Ozempic, and Pfizer on RFK Jr.: Pharma news roundup

Plus, a pharma group targets Hims & Hers' Super Bowl ad and Novo Nordisk projects slowing growth in 2025