Weight loss hype pushed Lilly well ahead of Novo, yet Novo’s early pill win signals a turn toward more affordable, convenient obesity treatments.

AI’s growing clout in healthcare and pharma and candid confessions from drugmaker CEOs dominated the narrative at JPM 2026.

Novo and Lilly prohibit telehealth partners from offering compounded GLP-1s, eroding compounders’ ability to distribute.

News on drugmaker deals, weight loss drug coverage, medication price hikes, and health insurance to kick off the New Year.

As more Americans take weight loss drugs, eating, shopping, and healthcare expectations are all evolving

35 state attorneys general are pushing Meta for tighter enforcement of its advertising policies amid a “surge of misleading marketing for weight loss products” on Facebook and Instagram. The state AGs’ letter will surely get the attention of the FDA, meaning telehealth marketers must ensure they aren’t specifically promoting GLP-1s to people who don’t meet the clinical criteria or using messaging that body shames. Meanwhile, social media companies and advertising platforms need to strictly enforce transparency disclosures on AI-generated ads while closely reviewing all weight loss drug promotions, given the risks of misleading claims and unrealistic expectations.

Hims & Hers is officially bringing its subscription weight loss program to the UK. But rising prices of some GLP-1 medications in the UK may lower the incentive for consumers to sign up for a membership with a telehealth company offering prescriptions.

Structure Therapeutics’ experimental obesity pill led to an average 12.1% weight loss after 36 weeks on a 120 mg daily dose, which stacks up well against competitors. Newcomers to the weight loss drug market still face key disadvantages, even with strong trial results. For smaller weight loss drug developers that may not have the risk appetite or resources to compete with larger players, the best way to cash in on a market dominated by two giants may be to pursue a partnership or acquisition.

Households with GLP-1 users could account for 35% of food and beverage sales by 2030, up from 23% today, per Circana. Rising GLP-1 usage is reshaping grocery spending, with profound implications for foodmakers and grocers. As GLP-1s grow more accessible—thanks to microdosing, efforts to make the drugs more affordable, and the pending release of a weight-loss pill—their impact will be more deeply felt beyond food to sectors including apparel, wellness, beauty, and restaurants.

Eli Lilly became the first healthcare or pharma company to reach a $1 trillion valuation. Pharma’s entry into “the trillion-dollar club” is largely driven by success in the obesity treatment category that’s poised to reshape consumer health and wellness. However, Lilly’s particular rapid growth signals that while first-mover advantage in a high-demand disease area matters, it doesn’t guarantee staying on top. Pharma manufacturers can make up for not being first by committing to innovative drug development that drives more efficacious products, pursuing new clinical indications, and correctly anticipating market developments that may impact supply and demand.

Starting next year, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly will sell their weight loss shots directly to employers, cutting out pharmacy benefit managers, per Bloomberg. This move further signals drugmakers’ push into direct sales, both to consumers and employers. More businesses will likely cover obesity drugs for their workers if they can achieve greater cost control of their offered benefits. And pharma supply chain middlemen could feel mounting pressure to shift further away from the prescription drug rebate model that so many in the industry decry.

The average cost of employer-sponsored health insurance is expected to surpass $18,500 per US worker in 2026, according to a Mercer survey released this week. That would represent a 6.7% jump from 2025—the largest increase in 15 years. Employers must conduct due diligence of vendors that offer healthcare cost-containment solutions to ensure the products are effective and deliver actual savings. Companies will also want to thoroughly evaluate their contracts with pharmacy benefit managers to better understand their prescription drug benefits, while limits on GLP-1 coverage, especially as upcoming oral versions and new condition approvals drive up demand.

Hours after online healthcare company Mangoceuticals claimed partnerships with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly to provide discounted weight loss drugs to cash-pay customers, both drugmakers denied any affiliation. As GLP-1 compounders lose their pricing edge, smaller players must resist overstating their ties to Novo and Lilly. While any healthcare provider can prescribe Lilly’s or Novo’s GLP-1s, manufacturer-set discounts won’t be made available to companies that engage in misleading marketing.

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.

Apparel companies that don’t adjust their merchandising strategies in response to rising GLP-1 usage could be stuck with up to $5 billion in excess inventory and costs, according to a report by Impact Analytics. While there are indications that rising GLP-1 adoption is increasing demand for smaller sizes, that shouldn’t be an excuse for brands to reduce plus-size production or jettison inclusive sizing. Companies that move too aggressively to reduce plus-size assortments could alienate customers and lose sales.

The number of patient appointments for weight loss drugs jumps whenever a celebrity reveals they use a GLP-1, according to Zocdoc data shared with EMARKETER. Brands that advertise access to weight loss drugs will want to develop messaging for when appointments surge. They should highlight that GLP-1s were developed to treat medical conditions (not for quick weight loss), and that companies are committed to making products available for all communities. Pharma and telehealth weight loss drug players should also provide transparent data on how many people experience which side effects when taking a GLP-1, while working with social media platforms to flag misleading content about medication efficacy and safety.

WeightWatchers launched a new menopause program with Queen Latifah as its spokesperson. This move is part of a larger strategy to expand into the clinical healthcare and prescription medication markets. To succeed against rivals like Hims & Hers and Noom, WeightWatchers needs to offer competitive pricing and secure more partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies to help raise awareness of its new focus in the growing wellness sector.

The situation: The compounded GLP-1 market isn’t dying down as quickly as previously expected. Our take: Online healthcare companies are getting crafty with how they market and sell compounded GLP-1s. Novo and Lilly will keep experimenting with legal tactics to get copycat GLP-1s off the market, but their path to victory in court is unclear. Short of the FDA stepping in—and it doesn’t seem like it will—the battle of pharma vs. compounded weight loss drug sellers will get even messier.

The news: Medicare and Medicaid could cover GLP-1s for weight loss as part of a proposed five-year government experiment, according to a report in The Washington Post. Our take: The pilot, albeit not finalized, is a significant about-face from the Trump administration—particularly its top health official, Kennedy. It could be a signal that CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz is behind the plan, since he’s a bigger proponent of the meds. Still, we’re dubious about how many health plans will commit considering GLP-1s' high costs are a top concern for most insurers.