LONDON – US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly is investigating whether obesity drugs could be used to curb unemployment after signing a major investment deal with Britain
The weight loss treatment company and inventor of Zepbound said on Monday it would commit 279 million pounds ($364 million) to help tackle Britain's major health challenges – including obesity.
The “strategic collaboration”, agreed with the UK's Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), was part of a wider £63 billion investment package announced at the end of the year The Labor government's first international investment summit takes place on Monday.
As part of the Eli Lilly deal, the company will launch a “real-world” study to understand how tirzepatide – the GLP-1 treatment behind its Zepbound and Mounjaro drugs – affects weight loss, diabetes prevention and the prevention of obesity-related complications Inform national health services about the treatment of obesity.
The five-year study, conducted in collaboration with Health Innovation Manchester, will also examine how weight-loss medications affect “participants' employment status and sick days,” the company said in a press release.
“This collaboration will expand the evidence base about the real-world impact of obesity treatments on the health of people with obesity and examine a wide range of outcomes, including health-related quality of life and effects on individuals’ employment status,” said Professor Rachel Batterham, Senior Vice President of International Medical Affairs at Lilly.
UK Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said the partnership was “key to building a healthier society, a healthier economy and preparing the NHS for the future”.
The UK is struggling with a stubbornly high rate of “economic inactivity”, that is, those who are neither working nor looking for a job. Almost a third of claims are attributed to long-term conditions, including pre-existing health conditions such as obesity, which was made worse by Covid.
Streeting wrote in an article in the Telegraph on Monday that the “expansion of waistbands” was placing a “significant burden” on the NHS and the economy, costing the health service £11 billion a year.
“It’s slowing down our economy,” he wrote. “Obesity-related illness results in people taking an average of four extra sick days per year, while forcing many others to give up work altogether.”
Streeting noted that the vaccinations could make a “monumental” contribution to tackling obesity and getting people back into the workforce, but added that “the NHS cannot be expected to always cover the costs of unhealthy lifestyles .”
CNBC reached out to the DHSC, which said the minister's comments “fully reflect” the government's position.
Use cases for obesity drugs have increased in recent months as several drug regulators have expanded the labeling of GLP-1 drugs for the treatment of obesity-related comorbidities and other diseases.
Speaking to CNBC last week, Citi pharmaceutical analyst Peter Verdault said there was “growing evidence of increased use of weight-loss drugs.”
However, some medical professionals expressed concerns about the connection between health treatments and economic outcomes.
“[There are] There are some serious ethical, financial and effectiveness considerations to be taken into account in such an approach… For example, looking at people or valuing people based on their potential economic value rather than primarily on their needs and their health needs,” says Dr. Dolly van Tulleken, a visiting researcher from the MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge and an obesity policy specialist, said on BBC Radio 4's Today program on Tuesday.
With Eli Lilly's investment, the company will also launch its first innovation accelerator, Lilly Gateway Labs, in Europe to support early-stage life sciences companies in the development of transformative medicines and technologies.
The company expects to make a further £279m of new investment in the UK over the coming years.
Comments are closed.