As demand for GLP-1 weight loss drugs continues to soar, pharmaceutical companies have experienced significant growth over the past year. Dave Mazza, CEO of Roundhill Investments, appears on Market Domination to break down his top picks in the GLP-1 market in the latest episode of Good Buy or Goodbye.
Mazza is bullish on Eli Lilly (LLY), maker of Wegobee and Zepbound, explaining that the company has a head start in the GLP-1 race because it has “been working on these drugs for decades.” He also said the company has optimistic sales outlooks, telling Yahoo Finance: “A variety of drugs, including Wegobee, are growing by over 100%, in some cases over 200%. At the same time, the company is actually raising its forecasts — so they’re not just beating or raising the numbers, they’re blowing the numbers away.”
Eli Lilly recently announced that it would offer its obesity drug Zepbound at a steep discount on its direct-to-consumer website, an initiative that Mazza believes will put the drug in the hands of more patients, especially those without insurance. “I think what they’re trying to do fundamentally is get that whole addressable market faster,” he said of the move.
Meanwhile, Mazza is “skeptical” of Hims & Hers Health (HIMS). He notes that the company’s stock price has “gradually declined” after an initial boost, and emphasizes that the company’s weight loss drug is a compounded drug, not a GLP-1 drug. Compounded drugs, he explains, “are made through compounding pharmacies, so companies make treatments and remedies that look and feel very similar to the actual drug.” These drugs are not FDA approved, which Mazza sees as a concern.
He added that Hims & Hers entered the market because of extremely high demand that pharmaceutical giants like Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk (NVO) couldn’t keep up with. With both competitors now expanding, he argues, the supply chain will improve and more patients will turn to name-brand GLP-1 drugs instead of prescription drugs.
For more expert insights and the latest market trends, click here to watch this entire episode of Market Domination.
This post was written by Melanie Leal