Patrik Jonsson said that the drugmaker is applying a consumer-focused commercial strategy similar to its U.S. approach, including partnerships with telehealth and digital platforms to reach patients who are mainly paying for weight-loss drugs out-of-pocket, from Britain to China to the United Arab Emirates.
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Lilly launched its weight-loss drug Mounjaro this year in Mexico, Brazil, India and China after swiftly gaining market share in Europe despite launching many months after rival Novo Nordisk introduced its Wegovy weight-loss injection. Jonsson said Lilly delayed some rollouts to ensure consistent supply, avoiding the volume-capped launches by Novo in 2023 and 2024.
“Even if many countries wanted Mounjaro earlier, we waited until the day when we believed we could have a reliable supply in place.” While Lilly did begin with limited supply in a few countries, Jonsson said those caps were clearly communicated and typically lifted within months.
He said that Lilly was well-positioned to increase its supply of Mounjaro rapidly in multiple markets because it produces the medicine in several formats, including an auto-injector device and a vial format.
Novo Nordisk was first to market with a highly effective GLP-1 obesity drug in 2021, but Lilly has pulled ahead this year, with total prescriptions for Mounjaro now surpassing Novo’s Wegovy. Surging global demand for weight-loss drugs has strained supply chains for both Novo and Lilly.
Lilly’s shares are down about 1% year-to-date, compared to a 41% drop in Novo shares.
Reporting by Maggie Fick and Mrinalika Roy; Editing by Ros Russell and Sharon Singleton
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Maggie is a Britain-based reporter covering the European pharmaceuticals industry with a global perspective. In 2023, Maggie’s coverage of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk and its race to increase production of its new weight-loss drug helped the Health & Pharma team win a Reuters Journalists of the Year award in the Beat Coverage of the Year category. Since November 2023, she has also been participating in Reuters coverage related to the Israel-Hamas war. Previously based in Nairobi and Cairo for Reuters and in Lagos for the Financial Times, Maggie got her start in journalism in 2010 as a freelancer for The Associated Press in South Sudan.
Mrinalika is a business reporter. She has covered the energy and mining industry in North America for Reuters since 2022 and is based in India.