Last year, sales of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) obesity treatments appear to have surpassed those of the immunotherapy Keytruda (generic name pembrolizumab), which had long held the top spot in global sales.
According to a report by Eugene Investment & Securities on the 8th citing Bloomberg consensus and other sources, last year the global sales of obesity drugs such as Eli Lilly and Company's "Mounjaro" and "zepbound" (tirzepatide), and Denmark's Novo Nordisk's "Wegovy" and "Ozempic" (semaglutide) were tentatively tallied at $35.8 billion (Hanwha 52.9 trillion won) and $35.6 billion (51.716 trillion won), respectively.
During the same period, Keytruda's sales were $31.5 billion. As a single product, Keytruda still ranks No. 1 in sales, but when grouping therapies with the same ingredient, both product families surpassed Keytruda's sales. The report projected that sales of these obesity drugs would exceed Keytruda's by about 13–14%.
Keytruda is an immunotherapy from Merck (MSD) in the United States and has held the No. 1 spot in global sales since 2023. The report analyzed this ranking shift as "a signal that the paradigm for treating obesity and metabolic diseases is structurally reshaping the blockbuster landscape centered on anticancer drugs."
Obesity drugs are expected to continue their solo run for the time being with the launch of oral products and other developments.
Novo's "Wegovy pill" won approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month, and Lilly has applied for marketing authorization for orforglipron, known as the "oral Mounjaro."
According to the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization on the day, GLP-1 drug sales this year are projected at about $85 billion (123.48 trillion won). Sales of Lilly's Mounjaro are forecast at $45 billion (65.37 trillion won), and Novo's Wegovy at $40 billion (58.1 trillion won). By contrast, Keytruda's sales forecast fell short of $35 billion (50.85 trillion won).