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☆ Viking stock doubled Tuesday. Here's where the next moves in the obesity space could come from
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Christina Cheddar Berk | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

VKTX YTD mountain Viking shares year to date Then, Viking shares more than doubled in trading on Tuesday, putting the stock on pace to report a more than 300% year-to-date gain, after the company said its GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist VK2735 hit all its primary goals in a phase 2 clinical trial. The Tema Cardiovascular and Metabolic ETF (HRTS) , which is up 12% year to date, owns Novo, Lilly and Viking. Still early days Some analysts and investors admit it is still very early days for obesity treatment and many questions remain to be answered. "We continue to expect above consensus growth in the space, as we are bullish on adoption from payers and broader obesity uptake," Meacham wrote. For obesity only, Lilly has already gained a 38% share, despite only being in the market for 13 weeks, he said.

Persons: Eli Lilly, Geoff Meacham, Meacham, Lilly, Yuri Khodjamirian, Khodjamirian, Jeff Jonas, Becton Dickinson, Novo, BofA's Meacham, What's, Tema's, it's, Gabelli's Jonas, he's, William Blair, Andy Hsieh, Hsieh Organizations: Novo Nordisk, Bank of America, Centers for Disease Control, Zealand Pharma, Viking Therapeutics, Zealand, Food and Drug Administration, Novo, Metabolic, Therapeutics, Pharmaceuticals, Rock, AstraZeneca, Roche, Gabelli Funds, FDA, Viking, Merck, Pfizer Locations: U.S, Tema, Novo Nordisk's, GLP, Lilly

☆ CVS drug price overhaul 'will likely be phased in over several years', says Gabelli's Jeff Jonas
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailCVS drug price overhaul 'will likely be phased in over several years', says Gabelli's Jeff JonasJeff Jonas, Gabelli Funds Portfolio Manager, joins 'Closing Bell Overtime' to talk CVS overhauling drug pricing, investing opportunity in the healthcare sector and more.

Persons: Jeff Jonas Jeff Jonas

Analysts attended earnings calls in the third quarter armed with questions for healthcare and consumer companies about the potential effect on their sales from the growing popularity of these drugs, known as GLP-1 agonists. A Reuters analysis of earnings transcripts for the third quarter showed "GLP-1" or alternatives like "obesity" or "weight-loss medications" were mentioned 256 times across 29 U.S. and European healthcare and consumer companies. That's more than double the mentions for the second quarter, when those phrases came up 127 times. While some consumer companies have talked about factors such as fewer calories being consumed, "these kind of large extrapolations" seem to be a bit of a stretch, said BMO Capital analyst Evan Seigerman. For big pharma manufacturers like Pfizer (PFE.N) and Amgen (AMGN.O), analyst questions were aimed at their obesity drug candidates.

Persons: Lilly, George Frey, Jeff Jonas, it's, Eli Lilly's, John Furner, Mondelez, Eli Lilly, Evan Seigerman, LVMH, Rajesh Kumar, Jonas, Bhanvi Satija, Savyata Mishra, Arpan Varghese, David Gaffen, Shounak Organizations: Novo Nordisk, Pharmacy, REUTERS, Gabelli, Novo, Walmart, Walmart U.S, Hershey, Truist Securities, Krispy, BMO Capital, Danish, pharma, Pfizer, Devices, HSBC, Thomson Locations: Provo , Utah, U.S, United States, Novo, Bengaluru

Such forecasts have prompted a sell-off in a wide range of companies from makers of bariatric surgery devices to companies whose products address the health issues created by excess weight, from diabetes to sleep apnea. "The market is in a shoot-first, ask-questions-later mood when it comes to weight-loss drugs," said Nicholas Anderson, manager of the Thornburg International Growth Fund, which holds shares of Novo Nordisk. By contrast, the iShares U.S. Medical Devices exchange-traded fund has lost more than 22% in the last three months. Injectable weight-loss drugs, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, are considered highly effective but are also expensive, costing more than $1,300 per month. "Overall, we'll see an increased interest in bariatric surgery, but that will get delayed in the short term."

Persons: Doctor Thomas Horbach, Wegovy, Nicholas Anderson, Eli Lilly, Kenneth Stein, Margaret Kaczor Andrew, William Blair, Michael Farrell, Jeff Jonas, Johnson, Myriam Curet, Ann Hynes, Hynes, David Gaffen, Manas, Michael Erman, Caroline Humer, Sonali Paul Organizations: Novo Nordisk, Healthcare, Growth Fund, Medical Devices, Boston, Gabelli Funds, Johnson, Reuters, Mizuho Securities, Manas Mishra, Thomson Locations: Germany, Munich, Danish, U.S, Boston, GLP, New York, Bengaluru

☆ These stocks are trying to solve a major shortcoming of weight loss drugs: Shrinking muscle mass
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( Christina Cheddar Berk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

One of the downsides of taking new anti-obesity medications is that patients tend to lose lean muscle mass along with body fat. "This is a major shortcoming in terms of not just quality of life for the patients who have to lose lean muscle mass, but there's actually room to improve on the weight loss and there [are] other metabolic benefits to improving your lean muscle mass ... [including] you might have better durability of weight loss." The drug is being tested in a phase 2b study alongside semaglutide to protect against loss of muscle mass. Until then, patients will need to watch what they eat and focus on exercise just as they would on any other weight loss regimen. When that occurs, muscle loss will be an even bigger issue than it is now.

Persons: Piper Sandler, Allison Bratzel, there's, Bratzel, Versanis, Eli Lilly, Eli Lilly's Mounjaro, they're, Lydia Alexander, Alexander, Sandler's Bratzel, incretins, Biohaven, Nestle, Ulf Mark Schneider, Jeff Jonas, Jonas, Stephens, Jim Salera, Atkins, Morgan Stanley, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Wall, Nordisk's Ozempic, Obesity Medicine Association, Bristol Myers Squibb, Nestle, Gabelli, Quest, Foods Locations: Swiss

“They tend to close in these neighborhoods regardless of whether or not there is another pharmacy nearby,” Qato said. Closings can create so-called “pharmacy deserts,” or neighborhoods without easy access to a drugstore. “It’ll kind of worsen the problem of pharmacy deserts and disparities in pharmacy access,” Qato said. She noted that patients who lose drugstore access are less likely to stay on their regular prescriptions, and that can affect their health. Jonas said drugstores do want to help with pharmacy access, but the economics still need to work for these companies.

Persons: Dima Qato, ” Qato, Jeff Jonas, Jonas, drugstores, ”, Ted Shaffrey Organizations: East, Street, University of Southern, Gabelli Funds, Rite Aid, Associated Press, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: West, University of Southern California, Philadelphia, Virginia

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