Pfizer beat Novo Nordisk in the battle to acquire obesity drugmaker Metsera in a deal worth over $10 billion. Regulators will keep a close watch on mergers to ensure competition in the obesity drug category that could reach $150 billion within 10 years. Leading weight loss drug manufacturers Novo and Eli Lilly will have to lean further into organic development and seek additional clinical indications beyond obesity, while Big Pharmas without weight loss treatments and smaller players could be better off pursuing partnerships and M&As.
OpenAI may build its own consumer health tools, such as a personal health assistant or a product that aggregates users’ health data, per a Business Insider report. A range of healthcare and tech companies—from Verily to wearable makers like Oura and Fitbit—are developing AI-powered health coach and assistant tools. A comparable OpenAI product could immediately threaten existing solutions due to its massive scale, provided it gains access to patient data. However, makers of health-tracking devices and some digital health companies could also be strong partners for OpenAI in creating a product that combines advanced AI with user health data.
The US Senate is moving to end the government shutdown, but the compromise deal leaves out guarantees to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) healthcare tax credits. Without ACA subsidies, younger and healthier consumers will likely drop out of the insurance pool, leaving older and higher-risk enrollees behind. That would drive up premiums and further reduce plan enrollment, putting pressure on insurers and shrinking consumer choice.
The majority (86%) of healthcare professionals say AI affects their treatment decisions, although the degree ranges from significant to slight, per a recent DHC Group survey. Healthcare professionals are open to more AI use in medical practice, but they still prefer it as a support tool. Pharma companies should focus on advisory, not decision-making solutions that can help save physicians’ time and add clinical context.
Hims & Hers said on its recent earnings call that it’s in active talks with Novo Nordisk to make Wegovy available on Hims’ platforms. Hims and Novo both have an incentive to reignite their partnership. Hims’ pricing edge in the GLP-1 market is fading, while Novo could use GLP-1 sales from Hims’ sticky customer base to make up some of the market share it has recently lost to Lilly.
Consumers without experience using digital health tools—like wearables, health apps, or devices to manage a condition—say they’d try one if recommended by a doctor or insurer, according to a recent report from Merge. Direct-to-consumer marketing isn’t the only effective way to drive digital health tool adoption. When it comes to their health, many consumers trust medical professionals over brands—giving health tech players a chance to further prove to insurers, employers, and doctors that their tools deliver real value.
Healthcare and pharma social media ad spending will surpass linear TV this year, growing 18.1% year over year to reach almost $6 billion. Meanwhile, the industry’s linear TV spend will decline 11% to $5.56 billion. These shifts in spending align with the fact that social media is an increasingly important source of health information, especially for younger people and healthcare professionals.
Mark Cuban’s online pharmacy, Cost Plus Drug Company, signed a deal to sell a biosimilar version of Johnson & Johnson’s drug Stelara at a price far below the brand-name list price and lower than competing biosimilars. Starjemza isn’t Cost Plus’ first move into biosimilars, but the drug’s steep discount compared to other Stelara competitors could pose a real challenge to typical pharmacy benefit manager pricing negotiations.
Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly struck a deal with the Trump administration to lower GLP-1 prices in exchange for expanded Medicare and Medicaid coverage. It’s by far the most consequential pharma agreement to date For Novo and Lilly, it’s a tradeoff: lower prices for higher patient and prescription volume—a bet that should pay off over time, especially since tariff relief is part of the deal.
Direct-to-consumer TV advertising doubled the collective sales of many of the largest pharma TV advertisers across the last three years, per a recent analysis by VAB. Big Pharma’s large TV ad budgets are still paying off despite the industry-wide shift towards digital. The VAB findings highlight TV’s ability to generate brand awareness that also fuels downstream digital engagement.
The three health insurers with the largest Medicare Advantage (MA) footprint (UnitedHealth Group, Humana, and CVS) are cutting membership in 2026 and rolling back plan offerings in certain regions. Many seniors who were lured by aggressive MA marketing promising extra benefits and free perks must now find a new MA plan or switch to traditional Medicare. The Medicare annual enrollment period is underway, offering insurers a chance to rebuild trust with seniors by providing online tools and live support to help them understand their options and switch plans if needed.
Facing slowing GLP-1 drug sales, Novo Nordisk lowered its full year sales forecast for the third time this year as it continues to lose ground to Eli Lilly in obesity and diabetes. Novo’s next opportunity to close the gap with Lilly lies with the Wegovy pill. Novo is set to be first to market with a next generation weight loss pill and a potential new swath of customers who don’t like needles or prefer the convenience of a pill.
Between 2022 and 2024, Novo Nordisk spent about $7.5 million to have Ozempic ads run on related search keywords to drive users to its prescription drug brand website, according to a JAMA Network Open study. Novo spent the $7.5 million across 15,000 paid keywords related to weight loss, which generated 2.4 million paid visits to Ozempic.com. Some drugmakers might be getting away with pay-per-click drug advertising that promotes their product for off-label use. Given that pharma companies devote about 56% of their annual digital ad spend to search—the second-highest share of any sector—marketers should work with search platforms to better align paid keywords with appropriate drug ad placements.
Hims & Hers is offering prescription microdoses of compounded GLP-1 semaglutide, joining other telehealth companies touting mini doses with lower costs and fewer side effects. As patients and providers move to try lower-cost doses with fewer side effects, some demand may shift from full-strength prescriptions. That puts pressure on Novo and Lilly to engage physicians around maintenance dosing and longer term patient retention strategies.
Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are closing in on deals with the Trump administration that would exchange deep discounts on their weight loss drugs for coverage under Medicare, per Endpoints News. Millions of Medicare recipients could become new weight-loss drug customers with the federal program on the hook for the cost.
Kimberly-Clark has agreed to buy consumer health company Kenvue for more than $40 billion. The acquisition significantly expands Kimberly-Clark’s presence in the over-the-counter (OTC) consumer health market, and gives it an entry into the lucrative beauty and skincare category. The acquisition will allow the company to stay relevant with shoppers who are prioritizing health and wellness purchases—even while cutting back on other spending. But in order to extract maximum value from Kenvue, Kimberly-Clark will have to take a leaf from competitor Procter & Gamble and rely on innovation and marketing to revitalize sales.
Healthcare organizations are implementing commercial AI solutions at more than twice the rate (2.2x) of the broader US economy, according to a recent report from Menlo Ventures. Hospitals and health systems dominate AI adoption in healthcare, accounting for 75% of the spending total. The greatest current demand for AI in healthcare is among provider organizations that must improve doctors’ workflows and cut admin waste. AI startups and incumbents will compete by delivering revenue-driving tools that go beyond note transcription and earning physician trust through models that enhance diagnostic accuracy.
Nearly three-quarters (73%) of nurse practitioners and physician assistants prefer email to receive pharma communications, but other channels are gaining ground, per a new HealthLink Dimensions study. As more NPs and PAs step up to fill physician shortage gaps, pharma marketers need to tailor communications specifically to them. That entails reaching them on their preferred social media platforms, while blending in-person and digital outreach.
CVS Health posted a $5.7 billion goodwill impairment charge in Q3, primarily attributed to Oak Street Health, its primary care clinic chain for seniors. CVS will also close 16 underperforming Oak Street locations, or about 7% of Oak Street’s clinic footprint, and won’t open any new centers in 2026. Companies looking to enter the primary care market—or larger healthcare players seeing a reset—should focus on strategies that don’t require massive upfront investments. That could include partnering with incumbents or leaning into direct-to-consumer telehealth, where disruptors have had some success.
Eli Lilly is offering cash-pay pricing for its weight loss drug Zepbound at Walmart. This is the first time Lilly has offered a retail pharmacy pick-up option to customers who order Zepbound through LillyDirect. Walmart will soon be the only retail pharmacy where customers paying cash for Novo’s and Lilly’s GLP-1 weight loss drugs can pick up their prescriptions. This will help the company benefit from increased foot traffic as more of Lilly’s customers enter its stores.