Obesity market news — August 5, 2026
The defining event of the week came on July 31, when Novo Nordisk's experimental anti-inflammatory heart drug ziltivekimab missed its primary endpoint in ZEUS, the first of three Phase 3 trials to report. In more than 6,300 patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease and elevated inflammation, the drug did not significantly reduce major adverse cardiovascular events versus placebo. The shares fell close to 9 percent and roughly 30 billion dollars of market value evaporated in a day. Novo says its 2026 adjusted operating profit outlook is unchanged, but a non-cash impairment charge will land in the third quarter. Two further trials continue: HERMES in heart failure and ARTEMIS in acute myocardial infarction. The strategic reading matters more than the share price: ziltivekimab was Novo's clearest attempt to build a cardiometabolic franchise that does not depend on GLP-1, and that diversification is now a year or more further away.
The quarter is in, and it split the two leaders. Eli Lilly reported on August 5 with revenue up 48 percent to 23 billion dollars and adjusted earnings of 8.38 dollars a share against 6.01 expected. Mounjaro rose 91 percent to 9.9 billion and US Zepbound 44 percent to 4.9 billion; Foundayo, the oral GLP-1, brought in 98 million in its first full quarter, ahead of forecasts but still small. Lilly raised full-year revenue guidance to 85 to 87 billion dollars and the shares jumped. Novo Nordisk had reported a day earlier: adjusted operating profit of 33.4 billion Danish kroner, up 11 percent, and it raised its own full-year outlook from a decline of 12 to 4 percent to a range of zero to minus 6 percent. Yet the shares fell about 5 percent, because the Wegovy pill brought in 3.22 billion kroner against the 3.27 billion analysts expected, and lower realised prices are visible in the top line. The read across the two: volume growth is not the constraint any more - price is.
On July 28 Altimmune reported positive topline results from its RECLAIM Phase 2 trial of pemvidutide in moderate to severe alcohol use disorder, and the shares jumped more than 15 percent in premarket trading. The trial met its primary endpoint of reducing heavy drinking days and also hit secondary endpoints the FDA recognises as registrational, including a two-level reduction in WHO risk drinking levels. Patients also lost a placebo-adjusted 9.1 percent of body weight over 24 weeks with no sign of a plateau. The significance runs wider than one small-cap: this is among the clearest evidence yet that incretin drugs may treat addiction, not just weight.
Eli Lilly (LLY): A quarter that beat on every line. Revenue up 48 percent to 23.0 billion dollars, adjusted EPS 8.38 against 6.01 expected, Mounjaro 9.9 billion (+91%) and US Zepbound 4.9 billion (+44%). Full-year revenue guidance was raised to 85-87 billion. Two details matter beyond the headline. Foundayo, the oral GLP-1, delivered 98 million in its first full quarter - above forecasts, but a fraction of the injectables, and behind the oral Wegovy pill. And the raised EPS guidance was more than offset by 3.03 dollars of acquired IPR&D charges from second-quarter business development, so the headline EPS range moved down even as the underlying number moved up.
Novo Nordisk (NVO): Better numbers, worse reception. Adjusted operating profit reached 33.4 billion Danish kroner, up 11 percent at constant currency, on net sales of 78.5 billion (+3%). Novo raised its full-year outlook from a 12-to-4 percent decline to a range of zero to minus 6 percent - a genuine improvement. The shares still fell about 5 percent. Two reasons: the Wegovy pill brought in 3.22 billion kroner against 3.27 billion expected, and management had to defend the economics of the pill as lower realised prices weigh on the top line. The underlying demand is not the problem - oral Wegovy has passed 5 million prescriptions since launch and weekly scripts topped 265,000 in mid-July. Add the ziltivekimab failure of July 31 and the picture is a company recovering in obesity while its attempt to diversify beyond GLP-1 has just been set back.
Altimmune (ALT): The clear winner of the week. RECLAIM, a roughly 100-patient Phase 2 trial of pemvidutide 2.4 mg dosed weekly for 24 weeks, met its primary endpoint on heavy drinking days on July 28 and hit registrational secondary endpoints, with almost two thirds of patients dropping two levels on the WHO risk drinking scale. Weight loss reached 9.1 percent placebo-adjusted and had not plateaued. Pemvidutide already holds FDA Breakthrough Therapy designation in MASH and Fast Track in alcohol use disorder.
Viking Therapeutics (VKTX): Viking closed the second quarter with 502 million dollars in cash, enough to fund the programme without near-term dilution. The Phase 3 VANQUISH 1 and 2 trials of subcutaneous VK2735 are fully enrolled, and the Phase 3 start for the oral formulation is guided to the fourth quarter. The event that matters this quarter is the VK2735 maintenance dosing read-out, the first look at how durable the weight loss is once the acute dosing window ends. A Phase 1 study of the amylin agonist VK3019 is also running.
Amgen (AMGN): No longer a quiet week. On August 4 Amgen discontinued early development of an obesity candidate while raising its full-year outlook on strong drug sales. The two moves point the same way: the obesity thesis now rests on MariTide alone. MariTide continues through the Phase 3 MARITIME programme, where monthly rather than weekly dosing is the differentiator. The Phase 2 read showed up to about 20 percent weight loss at 52 weeks on the efficacy estimand - 12.3 to 16.2 percent on treatment policy - alongside high discontinuation and vomiting rates, which is why the Phase 3 dosing schedule was revised.
Zealand Pharma (ZEAL): Quiet week. Petrelintide, the once-weekly amylin analogue partnered with Roche, is heading into Phase 3 for chronic weight management in the second half of 2026 after the Phase 2 ZUPREME-1 trial produced double-digit weight loss with tolerability close to placebo. That tolerability profile is the whole thesis: amylin is being positioned less as a rival to GLP-1 and more as a gentler foundation therapy.
Structure Therapeutics (GPCR): No news of substance this week. Aleniglipron, the company's oral small-molecule GLP-1, has positive end-of-Phase-2 feedback from the FDA, and the registrational Phase 3 programme in chronic weight management is guided to start in the third quarter. Structure is the smallest of the credible oral GLP-1 challengers, so execution on that timeline matters more to it than to anyone else on this list.