Senior reporter at the Financial Times' Sifted | UK tech and healthtech | [email protected]
Riding the Wegovy wave: Startups are looking to tap into the $150bn weight loss drug market as makers of GLP-1s see their valuations soar. The meteoric rise of a new class of weight loss drugs over the past two years — which includes Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound — has seen a new name take the title of Europe’s most valuable company, helped a country dodge a recession and hit grocery sales in the US. The potential of the market has not been lost on founders. It’s a “huge” opportunity, says Kai Eberhardt, the cofounder and CEO of Oviva, a Swiss weight loss management platform which began offering GLP-1 drugs as part of its treatment options this year. “The newer GLP-1 class medications have created real excitement due to their impressive outcomes in weight loss, transforming the treatment options available for those living with obesity." The drugs could become the company’s “largest” growth driver in the future, Eberhardt tells me, and he’s far from the only founder who sees a big opportunity. Over the past two years, some startups have shifted focus from being men's health brands to targeting women with weight loss treatments, too — as they look to take advantage of the growing market for the drugs. But there are barriers to growth. While founders and investors see massive potential in the new drug class — funding is yet to flood startups in the sector. In Europe, no company selling the drug or treatment pathways around it has raised more than €10m in a single round. There's also supply chain issues and finding finding the right customers to make a scalable business feasible. Investors say that if a European weight loss startup wants to hit unicorn status, it will likely have to partner with national healthcare systems — which aren't always keen to work with startups. Some have made inroads though. Oviva has provided services through the NHS since 2016 and Embla — which prescribes GLP-1 meds alongside ongoing clinical care and lifestyle advice for patients looking to lose weight — says its in “mature dialogues with several health systems”. So will startups be able to crack the weight loss market? Read the full piece here: https://lnkd.in/ewe-ZJT5 Featuring: Nicholas Syhler and Laust Wilster Axelsen — Embla, Michael Treskow — Eight Roads, Christoph Ruedig — AlbionVC and Hekla Arnardottir — Crowberry Capital
Kai Eberhardt
6mo
Thank you, Kai!
Co-founder & Co-CEO @ Embla | On a mission to eradicate reductive approaches to weight loss | Medical doctor | Writing about health & society
6moGreat read Kai Nicol-Schwarz. It is important to raise awareness of challenges and change in the weight management industry as the societal education level on obesity is hopelessly behind.