Off-brand Ozempic, Roche stock woes, and Eli Lilly’s weekly insulin: Pharma news round up

The psychology-based digital healthcare platform Noom announced this week that it’s now offering off-brand weight loss drugs starting at $149. Roche (RHHBY) stock took a hit early this week after a conference poster noted side effects patients experienced during an early-stage trial of its experimental weight loss drug. And Eli Lilly’s experimental weekly insulin worked just as well as daily doses, however, a clinical trial also found that the drug carried a higher risk of severe low blood sugar for type 1 diabetes patients.

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

Kourtney Kardashian’s wellness brand, Lemme, launched a new weight loss supplement today, saying in a press release that it delivers “significant weight management benefits.” Since the product is a supplement, Lemme’s claims have not been evaluated or approved by the Food and Drug Administration. — Bruce Gil

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reprimanded AbbVie (ABBV) over an ad for its migraine medication, Ubrelvy, that featured tennis star Serena Williams. The FDA took issue with the ad’s suggestion that the drug worked faster than scientifically proven. — Bruce Gil

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The psychology-based digital healthcare platform Noom announced Thursday that is now offering off-brand weight loss drugs for one of the cheapest starting prices in the industry. — Bruce Gil

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Rising prescription drug prices were only mentioned once during Tuesday night’s presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. — Bruce Gil

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Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk (NVO) shared more details about its experimental anti-obesity pill — that seems to be more powerful than current weight loss drugs on the market — Wednesday at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) annual meeting in Madrid. — Bruce Gil

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Eli Lilly (LLY) said on Tuesday that its experimental weekly insulin, efsitora, worked just as well as daily doses for patients with type 1 diabetes in a late-stage clinical trial. However, the study also found that the drug carried a higher risk of severe low blood sugar — a similar outcome of Novo Nordisk’s (NVO) rival drug. — Bruce Gil

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The United Kingdom’s health regulator said a probe found no evidence that popular diabetes and weight loss drugs are linked to suicidal thoughts or actions. However, a separate study using data from a World Health Organization (WHO) database of adverse events reported by patients and healthcare providers spotted a potential link when it comes to semaglutide — the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic. — Bruce Gil

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Roche stock slid Monday morning after a conference poster highlighted data regarding the side effects patients experienced during an early-stage trial of its experimental weight loss drug. — Bruce Gil

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