What’s News in Earnings: Who Is Winning the Obesity-Drug Arms Race?

WSJ What’s News

The Wall Street Journal

News, Daily News

4 • 4K Ratings

🗓️ 4 November 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Bonus Episode for Nov. 4. The weight-loss-drug arms race is only heating up, as Novo Nordisk attempts to snatch drugmaker Metsera away from Pfizer. But can either company compete with Zepbound seller Eli Lilly? WSJ reporter Peter Loftus discusses what earnings from Big Pharma, including AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck, say about the future of the industry and how companies are responding to President Trump’s drug-pricing plans, including TrumpRx. WSJ Heard on the Street columnist David Wainer hosts this special bonus episode of What's News in Earnings, where we dig into companies’ earnings reports and analyst calls to find out what’s going on under the hood of the American economy. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter. Further Reading: Novo Nordisk Sweetens Offer for Metsera - WSJ Pfizer Sues Seeking to Block Novo Nordisk’s Effort to Undo Weight-Loss Drug Deal Why Pfizer Can Still Prevail in the Obesity Fight With Novo Nordisk The Day Pharma’s Weight-Loss Gold Rush Intensified Pfizer Profit Falls Amid Lower Covid-19 Drug Demand Novo Nordisk Seeks to Outmuscle Pfizer With $9 Billion Bid for Metsera Novo Nordisk to Shake Up Board After Obesity-Market Challenges Mounjaro Powers Eli Lilly to Bumper Quarter of Earnings AbbVie Lifts Profit Outlook as Sales Rise Bristol Myers Squibb Profit Soars, Raises Revenue Guidance Merck Profit Rises on Strong Keytruda Demand GSK Lifts Guidance After Specialty Medicines Boost Sales Novartis Expects to Ride Out Patent Losses With Sales, Profit Growth Ahead Biogen Cuts Full-Year Earnings Guidance, Despite Third-Quarter Profit Rise J&J Lifts Full-Year Sales Outlook, Fueled by Pharma, Med-Device Gains Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	This podcast is brought to you by Dinotrace, the leader in AI-powered observability,
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0:21.8	Learn more at dinotrace.com slash WSJ.
0:24.5	That's www.d-D-N-A-T-R-A-C-E dot com slash WSJ.
0:33.4	Hey, listeners, it's Tuesday, November 4th.
0:36.1	I'm David Wainer for the Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News in Earnings, our look at some of the biggest themes standing out this earning season.
0:43.9	In the farmer world, there's Eli Lilly, and then there's pretty much everyone else.
0:48.1	Lily's weight loss powerhouse continues to reshape the industry, with sales of its GLP1 drugs like Zepound soaring and
0:55.0	rivals scrambling to respond.
0:57.0	In the latest twist and the sign of just how fierce the new obesity drug arms race
1:02.0	has become, the maker of OZempic, Novo Nordisk, is now trying to snatch away another
1:07.0	company in this space, Metzera, from Pfizer.
1:10.0	At the same time, farmers' negotiations with President Trump over drug prices and import tariffs
1:14.6	are hanging over the sector, testing how companies will deliver growth, even as blockbusters
1:19.6	like Ketrude from Merck, edged toward patent expiration, while others, like Humira from Abvi,
1:25.6	already have.
1:26.6	We're joined by Wall Street Journal reporter Peter Loftus,
1:29.3	who's been tracking pharma for us.
1:36.4	Peter, there's a lot of hype baked into this whole GLP1 boom.
	...

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