Weight-Scale
Drug researchers at a major diabetes science conference seemed to spend about as much time talking about the impact of their compounds on weight as on blood sugar.
Speakers who traveled to New Orleans this weekend for the 2026 Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association attracted some of the same kind of excitement normally reserved for new cryptocurrency developments or meme stocks.
Eli Lilly talked about retatrutide, a "triple agonist" that combines the power of GLP-1 agonists, GIP agonists and glucagon receptor agonists.
A phase 3 trial found that, over 40 weeks, the drug reduced blood sugar levels by 2% and weight by an average of about 17%, or about 37 pounds.
U.S. pharmacies now sell a compounded version of that drug, which is not approved for sale in the United States, for about $300 to $600 per month.
Sciwind Biosciences, a Chinese company, sent its new compound, ecnoglutide, down the weight-loss drug catwalk.
Interim test results show ecnoglutide helped people who took it for 20 weeks lose 35% more weight than people who took semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy, for 20 weeks, researchers said.
Pfizer said a trial showed its compound, berobenatide, could be injected just once a month, rather than weekly, and helped people who took that drug lose an average of about 17% of their weight.
But one of the hottest sessions at the conference was about the reality of high obesity levels, the high cost of diabetes and high levels of frustration at the employers, insurers and government agencies trying to help people pay for the drugs.
At press time, Tim Dall, executive director of health economic consultant at GlobalData, was preparing to speak at a session on selling the "payers" on the economic value of the new obesity treatments.
"Treatment for obesity and other chronic conditions is more than just saving healthcare dollars by better managing and preventing disease," Dall said in a comment included in the session announcement. "There are many social benefits to doing so. If you look at treatment only from the perspective of a budget analyst, we will underinvest in treatment and prevention programs from a societal perspective."
What it means: For employers and benefits advisors, the next two years could be a time of reckoning for the new generation of weight-loss drugs.
Competition from new drugs could push down the monthly cost of the older drugs, but it's possible that broader use of the cheaper drugs could lead to continuing growth in overall spending on the drugs.
Benefitfocus, for example, recently found that only about 6% of the plan participants at large U.S. employer-sponsored health plans it serves are taking the new weight-loss drugs.
Meanwhile, about half of Americans are obese or overweight.
The backdrop: GLP-1 agonists and their younger siblings are still popular with patients, and some employers are continuing to think about adding coverage of the drugs for at least some plan participants with obesity, but about 80% of U.S. employers say GLP-1 agonists are increasing their plans' costs.
Some large employers are reducing or eliminating coverage of GLP-1s for obesity, and even some insurers known for promoting GLP-1 use are cutting their own employees' GLP-1 benefits.
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