Audio roundup of selected biopharma industry content from Scrip over the business week ended May 8, 2026. This episode was produced with the help of AI text-to-voice and voice emulation tools. This time – Novo winning early oral obesity market; GSK deal bolsters downstream obesity strategy; brighter Pfizer outlook due to Vyndamax settlements; China dominates record novel drug launches; and J&amp;J drops two lymphoma CAR-Ts. Story links: https://insights.citeline.com/scrip/podcasts/scrips-five-must-know-things/quick-listen-scrips-five-must-know-things-IEFP6L4BNNCFTNMAXVIX54E6CQ/

Scrip's Five Must-Know Things - May 11, 2026 

Citeline Podcasts

Hello and welcome to the podcast edition of Five Must-Know Things, this time for the Business Week ended May 8, 2026. This is Ian Haydock. This episode was produced with the help of AI-powered text to voice and voice emulation tools. This time, Novo winning early oral obesity market, GSK deal bolsters downstream obesity strategy, brighter Pfizer outlook due

to Vindamac settlements. China dominates record novel drug launches and J&J drops two lymphoma CARTs. Novo Nordisk's Wegevy pill has achieved the best ever obesity product launch and is so far beating Eli Lilly's Foundio in their first few weeks of US market competition, but the direct-to-consumer market is rewriting the prices and profit model for the company, Andrew

McConaughey writes. Oral Wegevy, which is semaglutide, was launched in the US on January 5th and has achieved prescriptions of around 1.3 million in the first quarter. Lilly's Foundio reached the market close behind on April 9th, but recent initial figures showed it getting off to a less impressive start than Novo's product. That confirms the Wegevy pill as the strongest ever

GLP one-volume launch in the US and is a welcome victory for Novo, which has been on a losing streak against its rival for some time. Most notably, Lilly's Zepbound overtook Novo's injectable Wegevy to become market leader last year. Analysts have attributed the Wegevy pill success to Novo sharpening its commercial execution, including striking deals with multiple telehealth partners

and the big three US pharmacy benefit managers to achieve broad access at launch. But these deals include a sharp cut in prices, with a large discount for people buying oral Wegevy through direct-to-consumer channels as opposed to the injectable version through health insurance.

Scrip's Five Must-Know Things - May 11, 2026

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

Scrip's Five Must-Know Things - May 11, 2026

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.