The global market for weight-loss drugs is expected to reach a staggering $150 billion by the early 2030s, a significant increase from the previous forecast of $100 billion. This surge is attributed to the growing availability of weight-loss medications from Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) and Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY).

What Happened: The sales of weight-loss drugs from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are on the rise, as per a Reuters report. The increased supply, coupled with a surge in demand and the emergence of new competitors, has led industry experts to revise their sales forecasts.

Michael Kleinrock, a senior research director at healthcare analytics firm IQVIA Institute for Data Science, noted that the medications are capturing the attention of millions of people. Despite most insurers not covering these therapies with low co-payments, a significant number of individuals are paying for them out of pocket or using coupons from the drug manufacturers.

The global spending on obesity medications, estimated at $24 billion in 2023, is projected to reach $131 billion by 2028. This 27% annual growth estimate is a significant increase from the previous projection of 13%. However, the actual figure could be even higher if insurance coverage expands.

“There’s consumer demand and the unmet medical need. A 100 million plus Americans are obese, and even more are overweight. Worldwide, there are estimates out there of close to a billion who are obese,” said David Song, portfolio manager of the Tema Obesity & Cardiometabolic ETF (NASDAQ:HRTS)

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Why It Matters: The weight-loss drug market has been a topic of much discussion recently. Novo Nordisk has been under scrutiny for the high prices of its drugs, including Ozempic and Wegovy, and its increasing influence on Denmark’s employment has raised economic concerns.

On the other hand, Elon Musk has predicted that Ozempic will become more affordable after a comedy special painted it as a weight-loss drug only the wealthy can afford. Additionally, Australia has banned replica versions of popular weight-loss drugs from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly due to safety concerns.

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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Kaustubh Bagalkote