LONDON—US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company Whether obesity drug could be used to curb job losses is being explored after signing a major investment deal with the UK
The weight loss treatment company and founder of Zepbound announced on Monday that it will invest £279 million ($364 million) to help tackle major health challenges facing the UK, including obesity.
The “strategic collaboration” is agreed with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and is part of a wider £63bn investment package announced at the end of the conference . The Labor government held its first international investment summit on Monday.
As part of the Eli Lilly deal, the company will launch a “real-world” study to understand how tilsiparatide, the GLP-1 treatment behind its Zepbound and Mounjaro drugs, affects weight loss, diabetes prevention and obesity-related complications. disease prevention in order to better improve weight.
The five-year trial, conducted in partnership with Manchester Health Innovation, will also explore how the weight-loss drug affects “participants’ employment status and sick leave,” the company said in a news release.
“This collaboration will increase the evidence base for the real-world impact of obesity treatments on the health of obese patients and will explore a wide range of outcomes, including health-related quality of life and impact on individuals’ employment status,” said Professor Eli Lilly and Company Senior International Medical Affairs Vice President Rachel Batterham said.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said the partnership was “key to building a healthier society, a healthier economy and making the NHS fit for the future”.
Britain struggles with stubbornly high rates “Economic inactivity” Defined as a person who neither works nor looks for work. Nearly a third of claims were attributed to long-term conditions, including pre-existing health conditions such as obesity, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic.
written in a article Speaking in The Telegraph on Monday, Streeting said belt-widening was placing a “significant burden” on the NHS and the economy, costing the health service £11 billion a year.
“This is hampering our economy,” he wrote. “Diseases caused by obesity cause people to take an average of four extra days off sick each year, while many others are forced to lose their jobs entirely.”
Streeting noted that the vaccines could be “milestone” in tackling obesity and getting people back to work, but added that “the NHS cannot always be expected to foot the bill for unhealthy lifestyles.”
CNBC contacted the DHSC, which said the minister’s comments “fully reflect” the government’s position.
Use of obesity drugs has increased in recent months, with some drug regulators expanding GLP-1 drug labels to treat obesity-related comorbidities and other conditions.
Citigroup pharmaceuticals analyst Peter Verdault told CNBC last week that evidence supporting increased use of weight-loss drugs “continues to emerge.”
However, some medical professionals have expressed concerns about the link between health treatments and economic outcomes.
“There are some serious ethical, financial and efficacy considerations with this approach…such as looking at people, or valuing people based on their potential economic value rather than primarily based on their needs and health needs,” Dr. Dolly van Thule Ken, a visiting researcher at the MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge and an expert on obesity policy, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Tuesday.
Lilly’s investment will also enable the company to launch its first “Lilly Gateway Labs” innovation accelerator in Europe to support early-stage life sciences companies developing transformative medicines and technologies.
The company said it expected to make an additional £279 million of new investment in the UK over the next few years.
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