Weight-loss brands, such as WW International, are rethinking their strategy as weight-loss drugs become increasingly popular. Nathan Bomey, Axios Business Reporter and Co-author of the Axios Closer Newsletter, joins Yahoo Finance Live to highlight the influx of new weight-loss drugs and the social pressures that may come with this new trend.
Video Transcript
JULIE HYMAN: The skyrocketing success of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic has completely upended the $75 billion weight loss industry, companies like Noom and Weight Watchers, originally built around meal-tracking coaching, are now expanding into the weight loss medication race, even health companies not normally in the diet industry are getting in on the action, Hims & Hers CEO, for example, telling Axios, the drugs are, quote, "an exciting space for their customers."
Joining us now is Nathan Bomey, he is Axios' business reporter and co-author of the "Axios Closer" newsletter, Nathan, thanks for being here. This is so interesting, right, because at first, we kind of thought of it, mainly, as a drug company story, the companies making these drugs, but now, it's a matter of distribution and how people are changing their whole weight loss philosophy, so what is it meaning to these various weight loss companies?
NATHAN BOMEY: Yeah, I mean, there's so much opportunity here. This is a lot more than just the pharmaceutical space. We're seeing these companies that have historically built their entire business around personal responsibility and, like you say, meal-tracking, calorie-counting, companies like Weight Watchers and Noom, are realizing that their entire identity might have to change because of this.
Because these weight loss drugs are so effective for so many different people, this is upending the entire idea of how you actually lose weight. And so I think that, the companies like Weight Watchers and Noom came to a crossroads and had to decide, do they-- do-- are they ready to change? And are they willing to embrace this new reality that a medical solution has emerged that could help a lot of their customers?
BRAD SMITH: I mean, how much of this has come about just because the actual intellectual property or the patents have expired at this point, and now, there are so many different players that can essentially just come out with their own replica?
NATHAN BOMEY: Well, I do think that there is some of that going on, you know, semaglutide, the active ingredient in these-- in these drugs is common to several of these different treatments, and we see some that are actually still in the pipeline too that are said to be even more effective, like, Eli Lilly has one on its way, and so, you know, this is something that is here to stay.
We see companies that are pursuing pill-based drugs now because the ones that are on the market are actually injections at this point. So the thought goes that this could actually become even more popular because people who are afraid of needles, suddenly, will have a solution available to them as well. So yeah, I mean, I think that there's always going to be the pharmaceutical industry jockeying over who has control of drugs because of the patents, but I think the destiny here is to see these drugs more and more popular.
JULIE HYMAN: I have to admit, I keep waiting for the backlash on this, and-- and maybe, one hint of that is an EU government agency that is investigating whether some of these drugs cause suicidal ideation, for example, so you have that as an emerging, perhaps, question about these products. I mean, there's also the idea that, once you're on this stuff, it's very difficult to go off of it without just regaining the weight, so I wonder if you've seen any signs of that-- this investigation or elsewhere-- that could sort of stem the tide, if you will?
NATHAN BOMEY: Yeah, I mean, it's really a good question, and I think, with any new emerging pharmaceutical treatment, you always have to, you know, look at the other side effects and, what are the possibilities that we're missing here?
And so I think that the health care community has actually been taken by surprise a little bit by how quickly this has swept across the nation, swept across the world, because, I mean, so many people have been looking for help for so long and have not been successful with their own journey to be responsible with their health because there's a realization that obesity is actually a chronic condition and is not always something that you can control with your-- with your personal responsibility.
On the other hand, we know that there some abuse of these drugs going on, and that's another issue, is, people who are taking these drugs who actually don't necessarily medically need them, so there is that-- that issue to sort through as well.
BRAD SMITH: What responsibility do social media companies have in this as well? And the whole age of the-- the influencer or the "fitfluencers" out there and the fashionistas, the fashion models that you see, of course, across your timeline-- I don't know if it's your timeline, Nathan, but for sure in my own-- I'm sitting here looking at all of them, like, all right, I need to do a little bit more.
And it's created this-- this permeation of thought across TikTok and Instagram and all these other visual mediums to say, OK, to achieve that, I need to do something drastic that ultimately has some more addictive qualities to it at the end of the day too, so what-- what role have social media companies acknowledged within this, if any?
NATHAN BOMEY: I haven't seen any, and I think that, a lot of this does stem from Hollywood, you know, Hollywood is-- I think, it's no secret that a lot of celebrities are taking these drugs, and, you know, whether they really need them or not, I can't say, but I think it's an issue, you know, and I think, we live in a culture that is obsessed with being thin, and the question is, is there a line that-- to draw between, you know, the-- the need to be thin versus the desire to be thin? And I think, we're going to-- as a country, as a culture-- going to have to grapple with that question.