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Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 27, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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The main manufacturer is the Danish pharma company Novo Nordisk, which produces Ozempic/Wegovy (they're the same drug). Novo's stock is up 75% this year alone pretty much entirely on Ozempic news.

There are risks. Pfizer and Eli Lilly are already working on competitors and have a combination of active products and very good trial results. The weight loss market is so big and profitable that margins might well be driven down across the board, especially because unlike eg. Viagra which printed money until generics were legalized, there are a whole range of possible competitors to semaglutide out the gate.

The most profitable drugs are those where no chemically-different-enough competitor achieves the same effect with the same risk profile and a similar cost, thus allowing the manufaturer 15 years or whatever it is of total market dominance at whatever margin it agrees is most profitable. Unfortunately for pharma investos, weight-loss drugs do not appear to be that kind of product.