CR Eli Lilly ( NYSE: LLY ) and Novo Nordisk ( NVO ), which already have blockbusters with their weight loss drugs Zepbound (tirzepatide) and Wegovy (tirzepatide), are likely to dominate the market even if other drugs are approved, according to two Street analysts. Holly Morris, managing director at J.P.
Morgan Asset Management focused on health care, believes that due to their size and getting their treatments to market the earliest, the two companies are poised to control it. Speaking during a panel discussion on GLP-1 drugs at the Seeking Alpha Investing Summit in New York on June 18, Morris noted that the surgical robotics sector has essentially been a monopoly despite new entrants. "Lilly and Novo have a tremendous amount of intellectual knowhow, and have poured decades of R&D into this" class of drugs.
"They have a huge moat around the supply chain and both have spent billions building up supply...
.I think it's going to be very hard for any company to overtake Lilly or Novo." Louise Chen, who focuses on large-cap pharma stocks as a managing director at Cantor Fitzgerald, added that for new entrants to make a mark in the space, they will have to show differentiation.
This could include medications that are taken orally, dosed less frequently, preserve muscle mass, or are combination products. But she admitted that smaller companies will have difficulty commercializing as stand-alone entities. "I think they are just going to have to get acquired" if they want to succeed, s.
